


Bound to You

by Snaperipper



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Implied Slash, M/M, Manipulative Dumbledore, Other, Slash, Triad - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-22
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2018-07-16 13:56:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 22
Words: 37,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7271020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snaperipper/pseuds/Snaperipper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Beginning at the end of the Trio's Third year certain revelations come to light for Hogwart's Potion's Master. Follow Severus Snape, Remus Lupin and Hermione Granger on their journey to follow the bonds that tie them, stay strong against those that would harm them and keep themselves alive to honor the vision that fate has bestowed upon them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Any hope that she had that one of her loves had survived was killed as she stared at the casket sitting in front of her. She knew that if Severus were alive, no matter if he was close to death he would have been there next to her as their love was interned and laid to rest. To see that casket holding the other piece of her heart just brought everything crashing down.

What happened next was the final nail in the coffin…

The weeks following the war were unimaginable for Hermione and the rest of the surviving members of The Order of the Phoenix as well as the rest of Wizarding Britain. After the fall of Voldemort the remaining Death Eaters at the scene seem to have been struck down by an unseen force. It seems that old Voldy thought that if he fell this time, all of his followers deserved to be caught and imprisoned or put to death. It was like a tidal wave of wizards and witches falling to the ground with confounded looks upon their faces. While death would have certainly been worse for his followers, many of them would be going to Azkaban this time without the option of claiming they were imperused.  
When Hermione finally had the chance to turn around and look at all of the people that they had lost she felt something die within her. Lying out seemingly so peaceful were the bodies of Tonks and Remus, Fred, Colin Creevey, Oliver Wood and many others. These were people that she grew up with, that she loved. One body was missing and she knew that her chance of finding him, saying goodbye and laying him to rest at last would never happen.

“What a terrible loss, I had so hoped that Mr. Lupin would have survived this war along with Nymphadora. After such a tragic childhood and painful life, it is unfortunate he could not enjoy the future that his sacrifices and losses have brought.”

One voice she had never hoped to hear again in her lifetime came from behind her. Albus Dumbledore. If she could have possibly imagined this moment and she was amazingly unsurprised by it, she never would have imagined it happening here of all places. It took a deep calming breath, a stiffening of her shoulders and the occluding of her mind to turn around and face the man that everyone had believed to be dead for the last year.

“Professor Dumbledore, how kind of you to be here today to say goodbye to our dear friends. Hermione paused and continued, however I didn’t expect for you to be addressing them on this side of the veil. I guess we all imagined that you would have been greeting them on the other side as you did Harry”.

“Ah.. Ms. Granger, how good it is to see you again but unfortunately under such terrible circumstances. Professor Dumbledore exclaimed his eyes somber but still twinkling. I was so relieved to hear that you, Mr. Weasley and Harry survived your run in with Tom.”

“Yes we were fortunate to survive our as you said, run in with Tom and Bellatrix, the fucking Horcruxes and the Hallows”” We’ve had just a terrific seventh year” Hermione muttered fully looking the meddlesome wizard in his face.

“Yes, I do understand that the three of you have had a difficult time this past year.” Dumbledore said quietly but still looking incredibly full of himself.

“A difficult time, Hermione sneered her voice low. I believe that it was more than a difficult time for not only the three of us but also the other people affected by this war. We thought you were dead; her voice began rising. We thought that Professor Snape had murdered you. You sent three teenagers off on a wild goose chase looking for objects that you knew where they were as well as what they were. You left the most obtuse hints of the Hallows finishing the war.” Losing steam Hermione finished her rant.

“My dear, I had every faith in the three of you completing your mission. You must understand that I could not reveal all of the plans to Harry with his connection to Lord Voldemort, or the rest of the order. I had not intended to become ill that year and once I knew that Draco had been ordered to kill me and for Professor Snape to complete the task should he fail, it was just the logical decision to keep certain things unknown and to continue with the plan to fake my own death.

“Yes that would be the logical approach Professor. Hermione agreed with another sneer worthy of Snape. In war though, specifically this war, Logic doesn’t seem to have come into play very much.” 

“Excuse me Ms. Granger? a surprised sounding Dumbledore questioned. Every plan that was made, every order carried out was for the greater good. We succeeded in defeating one of the most evil Wizards of all time.”

“The Greater Good of who professor? Hermione questioned. If you knew what he had done, if you knew that they were, why did you not destroy them? Why did you send children to do your work? How could you willingly let so many people die? You knew he would go after the wand. You wanted Snape dead. Why? What do you have to gain with his death?” breathing heavily Hermione gasped out.

“You”, Dumbledore simply said. 

“Me?” Hermione questioned looking confused. 

“Yes Ms. Granger, I know that you are the brightest witch of your age and extremely powerful in your own right, I wanted you and Harry together and I wanted him to continue to naively follow my instructions and my tutelage. I can mold him into the perfect politician. With you by our side everyone will take notice and listen.

“But why Professor Snape? Just speaking his name caused her heart to break just a bit more. She didn’t think it was possible. Why would you set him up like that? Force him to cast the killing curse, making everyone hate him and distrust him, you set him up to take your wand so that either Harry or Voldemort would go after him and then you still tasked him with telling Harry he had to die. Why did you want him dead so badly and what does it have to do with me?”

 

“Severus didn’t know that I could see them because he wasn’t aware that one of my particular talents is to see binding strings. Dumbledore seemed to pause for effect. His and Mr. Lupin’s were lit all through their schooling until Sirius Black decided to introduce Severus to the Wolf. That may have been just a little suggestion that I might have passed along. He murmured more to himself sounding more than a bit pleased. I thought that that would be the end of it. So I then decided to invite Mr. Lupin back to Hogwarts to teach and also to help keep an eye out for Harry, with the amount of disdain Severus held for Mr. Lupin I had no worries. The reappearance of the Wolf and the friendship of Mr. Lupin and Mr. Black just seemed to cinch the break once again at the end of your third year. Little did I know Mr. Lupin was going to see Severus before he left.”

“But what do they have to do with me?’ She knew of course but she wanted Dumbledore the arsehole to confirm it.

“Don’t think that I can’t read you Miss Granger” You may be a pretty good Occulemens but I am a far better Legilimins, if you need me to say it, you were their third”.


	2. The Beginning

Chapter 1 

Hermione screamed, Black leapt to his feet. Harry jumped as though he had received a huge electric shock.  
“I Found this at the base if the Whomping Willow,” said Snape throwing the cloak aside, careful to keep his wand pointing directly at Lupin’s chest. “Very useful, Potter, I thank you…”  
Snape was slightly breathless but his face was full of suppressed triumph. “You’re wondering, perhaps, how I knew you were here?” he said, his eyes glittering. “I’ve just been in your office, Lupin. You forgot to take your potion tonight, so I took a gobletful along. And very lucky I did… lucky for me, I mean lying on your desk was a certain map. One glance at it and it told me all that I needed to know. I saw you running along this passageway and out of sight.”  
“Severus” Lupin began, but Snape overrode him.  
“I’ve told the headmaster again and again that you’ve been helping your old friend Black into the castle, Lupin, and here’s the proof. Not even I dreamed that you would have the nerve to use this old place as your hideout.”  
“Severus, you’re making a mistake” said Lupin urgently “You haven’t heard everything, I can explain, Sirius is not here to kill Harry.”  
“Two more for Azkaban tonight.” Said Snape, his eyes now gleaming fanatically. “I shall be interested to see how Dumbledore takes this……He was quite convinced you were harmless, you know, Lupin, A tame werewolf”  
“You fool,” said Lupin softly. “Is a schoolboy grudge worth putting an innocent man back inside Azkaban?” \

Severus’s dreams that night were frightening and disjointed. The return of Sirius Black, the bastard that made his childhood hell and just as well killed his best friend, coming up against a werewolf, one he had faced 20 years before and trying to protect that dunderhead Potter from both. They were the things that nightmares were made of, at least his were.  
He just couldn’t understand why he could not have just one year without drama, without danger. Why couldn’t that child just sit still and stay safe and quiet for just one year. What happened to the uneventfulness of the previous 10 years before Potter showed up at Hogwarts? Yes the Weasley boys, especially the twins were always up for some kind of mischief, but with the exception of minor explosions and some creative hexes the previous years had been pretty quiet. He longed for the old days. Merlin what a Death Eater he was.

Was it too much to ask that Potter and those other two children just do what they were told? He could understand the dunderhead Potter and his sidekick Weasley getting into all sorts of mischief but he honestly thought that the know it all Ms. Granger had a bit more sense than to continue to hang around with the two of them year after year. Of course between both him and her, they were the ones keeping the idiot boys alive. “Just give me peace the next four years until they graduate.” were his final thoughts as he drifted off to sleep.

Hermione’s POV

“Really could they not go one year without being in constant danger? Honestly, was it too much to expect to have a normal year at school? Just one? At least as normal a year one with magical abilities could have at a Scottish Boarding School for Witches and Wizards.” Hermione lay in the hospital wing quietly fuming, lying in the hard single bed with bleached sheets and wearing pajamas that were not her own. She didn’t understand why she had to continue to stay the night even after being healed. The Headmaster and Matron were adamant that she spend the night in the wing along with Harry and a loudly snoring Ron. When they had tried to get her to take a dreamless sleep potion she refused. To put off her nightmares and thoughts of this night was not an option for her, she had always believed that she should always push forward through difficult times and if she constantly put them off she would not have gotten through these last three years. Three years in which she was attacked by a troll, chased across a giant chess board, almost poisoned her best friend, turned into a cat (ok that was kind of her fault) petrified and now chased by a werewolf. She was fourteen years old and had faced death a bit too often to be healthy. If only her parents’ knew the kind of trouble she had gotten herself into she would be dragged home quicker than she could say Basilisk. That could not happen.

 

“I can’t believe that we actually survived the werewolf twice.” Hermione thought to herself. It wasn’t her brightest moment calling to the wolf of Remus Lupin and then almost being attacked, but her only thoughts were of the terror of seeing his transformation first hand and being pushed behind Professor Snape along with her two best friends. “Poor Professor Lupin being attacked by Buckbeak, He really is having a terrible night.”” Poor Professor Snape being attacked by the werewolf, then ridiculed by Professor Dumbledore and the minister of magic over Sirius Black.” Even knowing he was innocent and her part in saving him from the Dementors, she still felt ill over the treatment of Professor Snape. Maybe next year will be less drama-filled and more academically beneficial and maybe Professor Snape won’t feel the need to have to save Harry again” Hermione thought as she fell into a restless sleep.  
*********************************************************************************************************


	3. The Meeting

3rd Year, Day of the Leaving Feast

 

That afternoon after speaking with Harry and packing up his office, Remus Lupin found himself outside of the potions classroom in the dungeons.  
The walk to the dungeons seemed intolerably long but was over much too quickly. The castle walls down here seemed to be closing in on him as he fought the fear and trepidation that was following him along his journey.

The fear bubbling up was due to the fact that when speaking to Severus Snape you never knew what level of snarkiness you would encounter. After last night that level could be exponentially higher, but he had to see him. He felt drawn or even compelled to. He was leaving the castle today. Someone had outed him to the students (more than likely Snape) and he probably would not get a chance to speak with him alone again.  
He had to apologize, to thank him for making the Wolfsbane potion and apologize once again for missing his dose last night. He also needed to make sure that Severus was alright. He knew that he would have been told if he had injured one of the children, but Severus had a habit of not seeking medical attention when he was hurt.

Sooner than he thought that he would he came across the door to Severus’ classroom and taking a deep breath he knocked upon the door. Merlin his head ached.

“Severus, may I speak with you a moment?” Remus asked standing at the door of the classroom. 

“If you must” drawled Snape from his desk where he was grading last minute papers.

Remus quietly closed the door and transfigured a chair from a stirring rod left on one of the work tables in the front of the room and set it in front of the potions masters’ desk where he slowly sat down, still aching from the night before.

“Well get on with it” barked Snape 

“Severus, I would like to apologize for last nights’ debacle. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you making my potion for me for all of these months and for me missing my dose last night it was inexcusable.”

“Yes, well Lupin I will concede that last night was nothing short of a disaster and I am certain that if you had taken your potion that it probably would have turned out precisely the same way. You and Black always seemed to end your pranks with notable damage to myself and lack of forethought and where there should have been consequences for these actions it is apparent that you and he still have the ability to not be held to those that we mere mortal wizards are. It was also extremely irresponsible to involve juveniles in your escapade.”

“Severus, I can assure you that we never intended for the children to be involved with any of this mess. Sirius was going after Peter and the children just happened to be with him. When I saw him on the map as well as Harry, Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger, my only intention was to get to them before he could harm them. I should have realized how close it was to moonrise and sent a patronus to you or to Dumbledore. I just couldn’t get past seeing Peter and Sirius on the map again when one of them was supposed to be dead and the other rotting in Azkaban.”

“Yes, we saw how well that little tragedy played out last night, Severus sighed loudly, Lupin, I understand that they were your childhood friends, but how could you let them in the school near your other childhood friends that died only child? Near Lily’s son that almost died because of them? Sirius Black went to prison for selling out the Potters to The Dark Lord, Peter Pettigrew was supposedly killed by Sirius Black, even if their positions are now reversed which I am unsure that I believe, why didn’t you at least contact Dumbledore?”  
At these words Remus hung his head, he had asked himself the same thing and all he could come up with is that he did not want to believe that Sirius had been capable of hurting Harry, not after taking the oath of Godfather to the lad and seeing the look on his face the day the boy was born. “I didn’t let them into the castle Severus, I would never willingly put Harry in danger, however danger seems to find Harry regardless. I knew that Sirius was an animagus, but we swore oaths to each other as children that we would never share that information with anyone that wasn’t directly connected to us unless the truth was revealed by another. A pretty foolish oath I admit but at the time, the fact that he, James and yes even Peter went out of their way to become Animagus to help me with my transformations meant more to me than anything.” 

 

Both of them paused as they heard a tentative knock at the door and saw it opening simultaneously.

“Professor Snape? Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t realize that you were in a meeting with Professor Lupin, I can come back later, oh wait the leaving feast is in a little while and then we catch the train. I…”Hermione trailed off.

“Quit your babbling Ms. Granger and just spit out the reason for you interrupting my meeting with Mr. Lupin” barked out Snape gruffly.

“Yes Sir, well what I wished to say was that I am sorry, and thank you…”

“Silly girl what are you babbling about now, speak straight.” 

Taking a deep breath and wondering if she was completely insane, Hermione continued “Professor I want to apologize for last night, for stunning you. It was completely inappropriate although needed at the time; however I don’t imagine that you wish to address that right now.” Looking at a stunned Snape she continued, “I would also like to thank you for your assistance last night. It was very brave of you to place yourself in front of us after the Professor’s transformation, pardon me Professor Lupin.” She allowed to the side. “Professor Snape I understand that you don’t particularly like Harry, Ron or myself but I am still appreciative of the risk that you took to ensure that we made it safely back to the school.” Hermione finished in a rush as Snape and Lupin stared at her in a kind of an amazed shock.

“Well two birds one stone I suppose.” she stated looking to them “excuse me, a muggle term” she mumbled quickly at their befuddled looks. “Professor Lupin I wasn’t aware that you were still here and you mentioned your concern over Harry who I would be happy to keep you abreast of but I don’t want to seem like a tattle tale or anything however that being said I have a letter for you that I had planned on owling but as I said two birds one stone. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at my home or owl me and I will get back to you”  
“Thank you both for your time today Professor’s, best wishes for pleasant holidays!” Hermione finished as she rushed out the door.

“I think that that is one of the bravest little witches I’ve ever met, a shocked Lupin stated a bit breathlessly at Snape’s speechless expression. “She walked in here, spoke her peace in less than 3 minutes and avoided a confrontation with you after stating all of that. It was absolutely brilliant!”

Severus stood up and strode to the back of his classroom to look out of the door to see if Ms. Granger remained out in the hall. As he looked out he saw her striding around the corner at almost a run and he huffed in amusement, Fearless indeed. As he was turning he saw Remus open the letter he was given with an amused look in his eyes until in his observation he reached around the middle of the missive and he saw a completely shocked look come over his face.

“Severus, make sure the door is locked and warded and this room is silenced, you need to hear this.” 

“Hear what Lupin? Am I going to have to rush you along as well to get this supposed information from you?”

“Severus, please just do as I ask.”

Not seeing anyone coming down the hall towards his class room, Severus closed the door to the room and warded it with multi-layered wards including a silencing charm.

“Alright Lupin, what does the little Know It All have to share with you that is so important that you feel the need for such secrecy?”

“Perhaps I should just read it aloud and get your opinion on how important you feel this bit of news is.” Remus questioned softly.

Dear Professor Lupin,  
I understand that you probably were not expecting a missive this soon as we had just discussed corresponding yesterday, however given light to recent events I felt it would be prudent to contact you sooner rather than later with what has been brought to my attention.

“She probably read more upon your condition and feels the need to instruct you about yourself” snarked Snape  
.  
“Yes the two rolls of parchment on as Sirius called it, my furry little problem.” Were you expecting her or one of the other students to complete the assignment and publicly announce my condition?” Remus asked with a soft questioning smile

“Not exactly, chuffed Snape I knew that if any of the dunderheads would put the clues together it would be her, I just thought that as the school’s resident Know It All that she would feel the need to share the information just to prove herself.”

“Yes, well I don’t believe that you know that as much as you say what a Know it all she is, she is also very loyal to those that she feels are friends or are worthy of her regard. Apparently I was included in one of the two categories because she hadn’t even mentioned her findings to Harry or Mr. Weasley until last night when confronting myself and Sirius.” mused Remus. “Well let us continue and then you can judge for yourself.

“I truly appreciated the conversations that we had regarding books, defense and of course the discussion that we had after my complete breakdown after walking out of Divination this term so of course you know my thoughts on the subject.

Severus paused considering his thoughts as a teenager on the subject and then what he knew to be true now, and found that he was truly interested in what may have caused the young witch to reconsider her position on the art of Divination. After all the entire school had heard about that meltdown.

"I appreciate that you are concerned over Harry and his pension for finding trouble or trouble finding him in most cases. I truly feel bad sharing something spoken to me in confidence but I don’t know if he will share this information with anyone else such as Headmaster Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall and if he does I don’t know if they will choose to share this information with anyone else that may need to know."

"Harry had his final with Professor Trelawney yesterday and at the end of class he claims that she seemed to go into a trance like state and in a strange voice told of a traitor returning to Voldemort that evening."4

“Do not say his name out loud please” requested Snape hurriedly.

"If Harry has recalled it correctly, this is what was said “The Dark Lord Lies Alone and Friendless, Abandoned by His Followers. His Servant Has Been Chained These Twelve Years. Tonight, Before Midnight…The Servant Will Break Free And Set Out to Rejoin His Master. The Dark Lord Will Rise Again with His Servant’s Aid, Greater and More Terrible than Ever Before. Tonight… Before Midnight.. The Servant Will Set Out To Rejoin His Master…."

“Bloody Hell” whispered Severus Snape his head falling back, eyes closed and pinching the bridge of his nose. His head then dropped forward and his hair and hands covered his face.

“Professor, you as well as anyone know of my derision in the art of divination, however with the occurrences of the last three years that Harry and by contact myself and Ron have found ourselves involved in, I felt it was important to bring this to your attention so that you may decide if it is worth mentioning to anyone else. Harry won’t give me a straight answer as to if he has shared this information with anyone in a position to do anything. He just gives me this look as if he is wondering if I am crazy for questioning him or that he is upset for doubting him. Ron just seems to want to butt into the issue accusing me of being an insufferable know it all and who am I to question Harry? (Remember the broom incident) I know of other’s who would accuse me of the same but I just want to look out for Harry. He is like a brother to me and I just want to protect him. At thirteen I feel that he needs looking after by someone, Merlin knows he does not get it at home and with the unfortunate events of the last few years with the exception of Professor Snape and now yourself I feel he needs all of the backup he can get.”

I hope that I have not overstepped myself as his friend by confiding in you, I know that you only have his best interests at heart.  
Thank you once again for your assistance this term Professor and I look forward to hearing from you in the future.  
Sincerely,  
Hermione Jean Granger 

 

“Oh Merlin Remus, what have I done?” whispered Severus again “What will I do if he comes back?” He asked himself.

“I should have killed the rat, Christ if I just killed the rat or let Sirius do it, none of this would have begun again” thought Remus.  
All of a sudden Severus felt someone brushing against his wards, it was Dumbledore.

“Lupin, Headmaster is coming and trying to get past my wards, I’ll contact you later in regards to your Wolfsbane potion” Severus said hurriedly his face expressionless again.  
Remus stood up and looked at Snape and nodded quickly as he felt him drop the wards

As Headmaster Dumbledore knocked and opened the door, Snape remarked “Lupin I would like for you to leave my classroom as you are no longer a professor here, I will be ecstatic to see the back of you.”  
“Of course Professor Snape, a pleasure speaking to you again as always” Lupin said as walking past Dumbledore. “Headmaster, thank you once again for this experience”  
“Of course Remus, it has been wonderful having you here as a professor this year. You have imparted valuable knowledge on our students and I am sure that they appreciated the chance to learn from you” twinkled Dumbledore.

As he walked out of the door he made sure to look away from the Headmaster while wondering what he and Snape were going to talk about and if he was serious about continuing to provide him with his potion.

At the same time in the Gryffindor girl’s dormitory a whispered “Mischief Managed” and a tap of a Vinewood wand ended the voyeur’s view of her two professors.


	4. The Journey Home

Chapter 4

“Severus, Is everything alright?” asked the Headmaster.

“Besides being overrun by a gaggle of insufferable Gryffindor’s? Everything is just splendid.” Replied Snape, Now if I might have a bit of privacy I could complete the remainder of my work and rid myself of this place.”

“And what are your plans for the break?” Albus asked with a twinkle in his eyes

“I thought to take myself to some exotic beach, get pissed arsed drunk and shag as many beautiful women as I can” deadpanned Snape

“Well as long as you have your priorities straight, just be careful of getting sand in your boots” replied Albus with a short laugh. “You’ll be at the leaving feast of course?”

“As long as Lupin will be gone, I will be there” replied Snape continuing to grade papers.

SSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHG

 

The great hall was bursting with excitement as the children prepared to depart after the great feast. Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Neville sat at the end of the Gryffindor table waiting for their meal to appear. By mutual agreement Ron, Harry and Hermione chose not to mention anything that had happened the evening before for want of not getting Professor Lupin in any additional trouble. The talk around the table of course turned to Quidditch as well as the excitement of Sirius Black’s escape.

“So Sirius Black was in the castle, had been captured and escaped, that’s what the story is? Exclaimed Seamus Finnegan. “Can’t Minister Fudge do his job correctly? “First that bloody Hippogriff escapes and then a mass murderer?” 

Harry had to bite his tongue in order to not defend his Godfather. Hermione looked at him sympathetically and squeezed his hand in comfort.

“Hey is anyone here going to the World Cup? My Dad was able to get pretty good tickets.” Cormac Maclaggen questioned in a bragging tone as more Quidditch talk whirled around them. 

“Oi Neville, quit hogging all of the potatoes yelled Ron with food still in his mouth. Hermione has looked up quickly, regretting it immediately. 

“Ron, can you please not talk until you are finished swallowing your food please? It can really turn someone off of their meal.”

Ron just shot her an annoyed look and continued eating.

SSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHG

The first notice that Severus Snape truly took of Hermione Granger had to be that day, just an hour ago at the end of her third year. He of course was familiar with her, having taught her for the last 3 years and during that time had berated her strongly but this was the first time that he truly took notice of her.   
She was a bushy haired girl, though not as bushy as it had been her first year, with slightly large front teeth and heavy eyebrows. She wasn’t a homely girl, he had really no room to judge anyone’s looks, but she seemed to be just thrown together. Where most girls her age were experimenting with make-up, hair charms and personal grooming spells, she obviously wasn’t concerned with her outside trappings. She seemed more concerned for her studies and her friends. Maybe having two boys as best friends was what left her unconcerned with her appearance.

She truly was a bit of a know-it-all and frequently shared her opinion of everything with anyone willing to listen, but most of what she spoke of was a repeat almost word for word of things that she read. She didn’t provide her opinion and seemed not capable of thinking for herself when presented with an academic challenge and that is what drew his ire the most. He believed her to be one of the more intelligent dunderheads that he taught, if only she would think for herself.  
He really should thank her however. He knew that she tried to stop Potter’s and the Ginger Menace’s worst ideas and goodness knows she has stopped Longbottom from blowing up his classroom a few times. He may get on her about the help she provided to Longbottom but without her quietly trying to help the fool; he would have lost it with the lad ages ago.

What had prompted her to thank him this morning? It wasn’t like he could have just stepped back and told the werewolf, “Here you go wolf, dinner”. Between the three children, it would have been a full course meal. What had she expected him to do? It had just been a surprise that both she and Lupin had approached him today. Why? Thank you’s from two Gryffindors? Must be the Apocalypse. Maybe he should warn Potter.

He now watched the Gryffindor table and her in particular as the leaving feast drew to an end. She seemed subdued as she sat among her classmates. Potter was on one side of her while the Weasley wonder sat on the other side of him. Across from her were Longbottom and the lone girl Weasley staring dreamily at Potter. That was a bit disturbing as her hair was a close match for the boy’s mother as well as her general stature. Granger was writing in her notebook with what appeared to be a pen instead of a quill and ink. She spoke when asked a question and didn’t look up unless spoke to directly. She seemed very distracted.

Oh well, it wasn’t his problem. She had friends to speak with and muggle parents at home, although it probably would not do to mention the escaped convict or the werewolf issue with her parents lest they remove her from school. She must not have mentioned the Troll in her first year or the Basilisk her second year. If she was no longer at Hogwarts, who would help him keep Potter alive?

SSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHGSSHG

Harry, Ron and Hermione had claimed their favorite carriage on the train and got comfortable waiting to depart. Hermione was unnaturally quiet, much as she had been at the leaving feast. She kept staring out of the window and biting her bottom lip while holding onto her traveling book tightly. Harry couldn’t remember seeing her this tightly wound in a long time.

“Mione, what’s wrong? You’ve been so quiet the last few hours” Harry asked looking at one of his best friends avoiding his gaze.

“Yeah Mione, Merlin knows that, that is a feat in itself” Ron claimed, still disgruntled over her comments at dinner

Harry shot him a look; this was not the way to approach her if there was a problem. He might not always be the most astute of people but Hermione was one of his best friends and he felt troubled by how upset she seemed.

Hermione finally looked up and met Harry’s eyes. He was shocked to see the tears in them. “Harry, I’m so sorry, it’s all my fault that you have to go back to your relatives house this summer. I know that you were hoping to live with Sirius and I screwed it up for you.”

“Mione, what do you mean it’s all your fault?” Harry asked thoroughly confused.

“If I had just thought faster, I might have stopped Wormtail from getting away and then Fudge could have pardoned Sirius and then you would have your Godfather and Professor Lupin would have his best friend and Sirius would have his freedom.” Hermione ended on a sob.

Harry looked completely flabbergasted at her rant. He felt bad himself that Wormtail had gotten away but he didn’t know that Hermione was feeling so much guilt. He was so unsure how to handle this crying mess that was his best friend, she was always the strong one.

“Hermione, I don’t think that it’s your fault, he said grabbing her hand. I was there too and I could have tried to stop him. I think that being confronted with a transforming werewolf might have distracted us s bit.” He advised with a shy smile and look up into her tear stained eyes.

“Alright, I admit it was a bit distracting seeing Professor Lupin transform. It was certainly something that I never thought to experience. Of course seeing a troll and being petrified by a Basilisk weren’t even in the top ten of things that I thought to experience in my life, let alone in my teen years.” She said chuffing at the memory.

“Hey what was the big idea almost walking up to him and calling his name after he transformed?” Questioned Ron, “I don’t think that, that was the smartest idea for a know it all.”

“She also called for him in the forest to get him away from us.” added Harry, looking at Ron oddly.

“That was you? questioned Ron “He really seemed to perk up when he heard you. Maybe he’s in love with you.”

“Really Ron?” He’s a professor and a werewolf.

“And you think that he is so smart and nice but a real beast once a month” claimed Ron with a Smirk in a sing song voice.

After a glare to Ron Hermione dried her eyes and leaned her head against Harry’s shoulder, crying always left her with a terrible headache. Just before closing her eyes she looked to Ron and caught a bit of a glare as he looked at the two of them. Harry wasn’t paying attention and just fed Hedwig another owl nut before closing his own eyes. He had to mentally begin to brace himself for another summer with the Dursleys.

 

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A few miles out from King’s Cross both Hermione and Harry woke from their nap, as Harry excused himself to visit the loo, Ron looked over at Hermione and in a whispered voice he said, "It is your fault Hermione. If you had just grabbed him when you had the Time Turner and went back Harry could be staying with Sirius for this summer.”

Hermione looked at Ron with a shattered look on her face but also one of determination, “Ron if you understood the laws of time, you wouldn’t have just said that.”

“I don’t have to be a swot to know that Harry is going to be miserable over break and that you could have done something about it.” Ron said with a sneer.

At that moment Harry returned to the carriage and the trio began cleaning up their compartment making sure they had everything before departing the train.


	5. A Different Mindset

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Summer 1994  
Severus took the next two days to settle his affairs at the school. A thorough inventory was needed of all of his potions ingredients, both personal as well as for classes and his final grading needed to be completed. It was the evening of the second day at dinner that he bade farewell to his fellow staff members, walked to the edge of the wards of the school and disapparated to his home in Spinners End.

He walked to the front gate and silently dispatched with his wards. Walking to the front door with a quick Alohomora he unlocked the front door and silently cast a Hominem Revelio. All of his years as a spy for Voldemort as well as the order had taught him to be very cautious when it came to his personal space. He was already being held by his balls by the headmaster. He didn’t need another person with any power over him.

As he became reacquainted with his home he could slowly feel the tension leave his shoulders. He stood in the entry way of his library and began to slowly undo the multitude of buttons on his frock coat. He could have certainly used magic to take care of the lengthy process but doing so by hand further balanced him as he left the persona of Potions Master and Professor and became the 33 yr old Manc that grew up in this house.

After taking out his shrunken luggage he hung the coat from a hanger in the entry closet and proceeded to the stairway where he climbed to the rarely used second floor. Walking into his bedroom he continued unbuttoning the buttons of his shirt sleeves and then from the bottom of his chin down, the front of his shirt until he reached the bottom and slowly pulled it off of his shoulders. Underneath he wore an undershirt covering his thin chest. He body ran a bit lanky as he often would get caught up in something and forget to eat. His arms were lean but muscled as he understood the need for strength as he was often pulling children out of the way of exploding cauldrons as well as remembering the days of his youth as he was often taunted and abused by the school bullies and his father.

Speaking of bullies, he truly needed to sit down and consider the changes in status of those bullies. Of course Potter was still dead and Black was still an arse but Lupin may be slightly worth reconsidering. He was not one that actively attacked him though he was probably behind more than a few pranks, but he just never seemed truly as mean as the other marauders especially Pettigrew. He might have acted like a bit of a mouse on occasion but he was truly a rat if Lupin and the children were to be believed. Not only from the hexes and taunting that he had received from him as a child but also the fact that he had betrayed those that called him friend really pissed him off. If Lupin and Black were to be believed then he was the one that truly caused the death of James and Lily Potter and the orphaning of Harry Potter. What a fuckhead.

Severus continued undressing, pulling off his t-shirt and unbuckling his belt as he walked into the bathroom off of his bedroom. While the majority of his home had remained the same after his parent’s deaths, he did renovate his bedroom and bath to fit his tall frame and the need for a sanctuary after being at Hogwarts for almost 10 months out of the year. The only breaks he got were the occasional holidays that he took, but even those had been denied recently due to some of the children staying behind at the school. He was determined to try and take more time for himself, especially if that blind bat of a seer actually was predicting the truth.

Thinking back to the prophecy that Potter Jr. had supposedly heard and whom it had been disclosed to, Severus’ mind turned back to the Werewolf as he finished stripping off and climbed into the shower with the hot water pounding upon him. 

This year was the closest that Severus had been to the man that was the Werewolf Remus John Lupin. He had of course noticed him during his school years. As one quarter of the marauders he was hard to miss, though he was the quiet one out of the bunch. He always seemed to be a deep individual, studying hard with Lily in the Library but sickly a few days of the month. Around the time of their sixth year Severus knew exactly why he was scarred and haunted looking. He remembered before the incident in the shrieking shack admiring how fit the boy seemed. Severus was one of many wizards that appreciated both the male and female form and while Black had been the heart throb in school and Potter the showy one, Lupin just was comfortable to be around. Until of course the shack incident and then he felt such hatred towards all four marauders he just couldn’t contain it. Facing his possible death even after the rotten life he had already lived really stopped him in his tracks and his once attraction to the young werewolf was eradicated, until 2 days ago….  
After watching him transform that night and seeing the pain that turning into the wolf entailed, no matter how scared he was, he found new respect for the man for growing up and surviving that agony every month since he was a child. The fact that he came to him and apologized and shared the letter from Granger with him and warned him what was to come just increased that new found respect.  
With that respect, the rumble of attraction he once felt began stirring him and as he washed away the stress of the school year, he found himself wondering what his truce with Lupin would entail.

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	6. The First Morning Home

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Sunlight was filtering through the cracks in the curtains hanging from the window of his modest bedroom. While it was not a well-appointed room it featured a king size bed sans headboard or footboard that was extremely comfortable on his tired body and he relished the chance to relax after his painful transformation and subsequent leaving of his teaching position. He had experienced worse full moons in days past, more painful ones, but definitely none were as eventful as this one was. 

Stretching out his six foot two inch frame from the curled position it had been in since the night before, he rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling, not really noticing the cracks that had developed over the years or the slightly peeling paint. It was aging as he was and while he felt every bit of his 33 years this morning, he also felt somewhat relieved. The stress of this past year with the Dementors surrounding the school, the worry of Sirius escaping , meeting Harry for the first time after 13 years and of course the stress of dealing with Severus every day had certainly been tough on his hide.

He wasn’t completely relieved of course, he was unemployed once again. While this was not a new experience for him, he had been employed this time for 10 months with regular access to Wolfsbane, food and shelter so he was able to save a bit of money that would hopefully hold him over for the next few months until he was able to secure another position that may not mind his furry little problem. There was also the worry of the information the Hermione Granger had shared before he left to contend with. He had no idea what to do with the warning and if he should speak with the headmaster about it or if he should wait and discuss it with Severus first.

Rolling reluctantly out of bed he stood and stretched his lean frame and headed towards his bathroom. Pulling his fingers through the hair on his head he realized it had been a while since he had a trim and he should see about scheduling one before hunting for his next job.

Looking in the mirror he tried to access his looks objectively, he was a 33 year old Werewolf, former marauder and a lonely man. He had felt more alive this year bickering with Severus and interacting with the other teachers and students then he had in over a decade. He had hoped to prolong the experience but after the mess that occurred the other night, it just wasn’t possible. Whether Severus or someone else had leaked the nature of his condition, he knew that the parents would have issues with a Werewolf teaching their children consciously for a second year. Hopefully he would be able to maintain contact with a few of the teachers. He truly enjoyed talking with a knowledgeable person regarding Runes as well as Arithmancy and he knew that he offered to help Ms. Granger in those areas if she had any future questions. It is always good to keep up to date on past learnings because you never knew when you might need them again.

Turning the shower as hot as it would go, he stripped off his boxers and climbed in and let the water cascade over him, washing away the lingering lethargy that always followed his transformations and thinking of what may happen in the next few weeks.

He knew that he would be hearing from Sirius soon, he had half expected him to be waiting for him at the house when he arrived, but was greatly relieved that he wasn’t when approaching his house he found an Auror waiting for him instead.   
She was a cute little thing, he half noticed when he arrived at his front door, she had been waiting in one of the rockers that had been sitting there since he was a child and he worried slightly that it might not continue to hold her, however she was a witch with hopefully some skills and likely strengthened the chair upon sitting in it.

 

Once he reached the stairs of his porch, she stood with her hand stretched out to him in order for him to shake it, however he was raised as a proper wizard so he took her hand and turned it deftly face up and kissed the top of it.

Blushing, she introduced herself as Auror Tonks and asked him if she could speak to him in regards to Sirius Black and his escape from Hogwarts the other evening.  
Smiling he allowed her in his home after lowering the wards and offered her tea. She in turn questioned him about Sirius, how he might have escaped, if he had helped him and if he had any idea where he might be? After answering all of her questions and allowing her to snoop around for a few minutes to see if he was lying, he showed her to the door. His bed was calling.

Exiting his bathroom in just a towel, his hair still wet but pushed back he was surprised to see not one but two owls waiting for him. One of them was extremely hyper and buzzed around his head like a crazy snitch, the other was staring at the fluffy snitch with an annoyed expression that reminded him of a certain Potions Master that he had left behind at the school. Opening the window he allowed them in, took off their messages and took two treats from the old box that had probably been there a little too long and watched them fly away.

Recognizing the hand writing on the first scroll, he quickly opened it and read:

Moony,

I’ve decided to skip out for a bit. A little further away for safety and peace of mind for the pup.  
However we do need to talk. Plans need to be made and retribution handled. We’ll speak soon.

Padfoot.

Short and to the point, a little strange for Sirius Black but 13 years in Azkaban had certainly changed the man, so who was he to say what was normal anymore?

The next missive contained an unknown spiky script so after checking the parchment for any jinxes he unrolled that parchment.

Lupin,

We need to talk. I’ll contact you again soon to set up the time and place. We need to discuss your medication as well as the information that your Kia provided us with. Muggle London would be best. I’ll let you know.

S.S.

Again another short and to the point missive, but coming from Severus this was not surprising at all. For two Wizards who disliked each other immensely, their letters sounded remarkably similar. What did Severus mean by his Kia? He knew no one by that name or any information they may have imparted. Perhaps he was referring to the missive from Ms. Granger?

With no immediate plans for the day, he decided to head out to the local grocer to grab a few essentials, come home and start planning for his upcoming meetings.


	7. Tired

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Why was she so exhausted? She had been home for just over two weeks now and all that she had done was sleep and try and catch up with her parents. She understood that she had truly overdone it at school this past year with the time turner and all of the excitement that she had experienced, but good Godric she was only fourteen years old. Ok closer to fifteen, or maybe even older if she was honest with herself and her gratuitous use of the time turner but really two weeks should been more than enough time to catch up on rest.

 

Looking at herself in the mirror, her hair seemed more frizzy than usual and the circles beneath her eyes made her look so much older than her years belied. This year had taken its toll and this wasn’t the first time that she had found herself looking so unbecoming; however at school she was able to hide it behind glamours and some of the lesser makeup charms. At this time with how drained she felt, she probably wouldn’t have been able to manage that. Here at home she was unable to use such tricks and she hoped that by getting out in the sunshine of France she might be able to reverse the effects of her tiredness and hopefully eliminate her parents worry over her spreading herself too thin.

Her parents had questions of course, “How was school honey? How did your exams go? You mentioned there was some trouble with your friend Harry dear, was that resolved?”  
Some questions were easily answered, while the latter was avoided at all cost. It hadn’t been resolved as far as she was concerned. Sirius Black was still on the run and many people knew that he was innocent. Unfortunately he would remain so because no one could trust the word or the magic apparently of three thirteen year olds and a man that was a werewolf that had been trusted as a teacher for the last school year. Her parents even if they could have believed it, did not need to know about that last part. Now because of the ineptitude of those in the magical government, Harry had to remain with his awful family.

She wanted so badly to have her parent’s go to Harry’s house and rescue him. He was such a good kid and one of her dearest friends even if he was a prat at times. Most of the time it seemed like he just followed what Ron said, and she could understand that as Ron was his first friend. But it just made her so angry sometimes that the only time he seemed to listen to her was when Ron wasn’t around. She had never tried to steer him wrong and she truly only wanted the best for him. 

As she continued packing the suitcase that she was taking on her trip, her mind kept drifting back to the end of the year and the rescue of Harry’s Godfather. The look of the man would have scared a normal person half to death. She was trapped in the shrieking shack with her two best friends; a wanted murderer that she had just found out was an animagus that resembled a Grimm as well as one of her two favorite teachers that she knew was a werewolf and another animagus which was a rat, otherwise known as Peter Pettigrew. It was a tale not able to be shared with her very muggle family. 

 

Remembering brought back that sick and icky feeling that had developed once she realized how many times she had gotten undressed in front of the perverted rat of a man, unintentionally and only catching sight of him once she had finished changing. It had occurred at school in her dorm. She thought that the rat just enjoyed their dorm because of all of the candy that Lavender Brown and Pavarti Patel kept stashed in their trunks. Second guessing herself now she realized it probably wasn’t for such innocent reasons, which was even more disturbing. He had lived with Ginny Weasley’s family much longer and if his penchant leaned that way, she hoped the younger girl never realized it.

Quite a bit of things had disturbed her this year, she had lost a bit more of her childhood innocence believing that her teachers knew everything and only had her best interest at heart but truly it did not seem to be. She had been given a time turner and while she was very responsible for her age, maybe a bit of guidance would have been appropriate so that she didn’t freak out on everyone and drain herself dry. She found that when there was believed danger in the castle that really idiotic decisions were made. Sirius Black makes it into the castle but not past the portrait and they send all of the students to the great hall for a sleepover. Sirius Black makes it into the dorm rooms and attacks a student’s bed and they are advised to stay in the dorm. Whose bright idea was that? The Headmaster hires a fraud last term for Defense Against the Dark Arts and this year he hires a werewolf. Not that she had anything against Professor Lupin. He truly was one of the best teachers that she had ever had, but seriously? Then the business at the end of the year with rescuing Sirius and Buckbeak and taking Harry with her through time? So many things could have gone wrong and in the end they were both rescued but were they really free? Certainly something should have been done for Mr. Black. He had spent 12 years in wizard’s prison for a crime he never committed. The Headmaster was the Head of the Wizengamot, The International Confederation of Wizards as well as the Supreme Mugwump. What use were the titles when you couldn’t use them to assist an innocent man that almost had his soul sucked out?


	8. In a Small Town

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Remus stood staring in the mirror at his reflection. It wasn’t often that he ventured out into muggle London to meet someone and especially the area that Severus had mentioned. He studied the clothing that he was wearing and not for the first time wished that he had a few pounds or sickles put away in order to update his rather drab wardrobe. He often relied on his father’s old robes to see him through his travels and jobs in Diagon Alley as well as whilst working at Hogwarts, but living as a muggle he relied on much of the clothing he had worn as a youth, corduroy pants and pull over jumpers in the winter and frayed jeans and old band t-shirts from the late seventies and eighties. He had worked concerts during that time as part of security and many times along with a bit of cash, and some muggle liquor the band would throw him a few shirts for keeping them safely away from their fans. It wasn’t a bad look but wasn’t very comfortable for him at almost thirty four years old. So on that summer day in July, he threw on his least frayed pair of jeans and a greying Duran Duran T-shirt under a white button down. 

 

He wasn’t sure why exactly he was worried with how he looked. He was meeting Severus Snape today, anything that the dour man objected to; he would not hesitate to criticize. With one last fleeting look in the mirror he walked out of his house, reset his wards and as he reached the tree line near the edge of his property, he turned on the spot and disapparated to the alley way alongside the Leaky Cauldron. 

Upon reaching his first destination he held out his wand and with a bang the Knight Bus appeared. After dealing with the pimply faced Stan Shunpike he sat on one of the swiveling beds and held on tightly until he reached Cokeworth.

Disembarking the bus he turned and looked around taking in the run down mill town. He remembered that Lily Potter had lived around this area and that she and Severus had grown up near here. He spotted the small pub that Severus had mentioned in his note and walked inside.

The interior was dark compared to the light outside and it took a minute to get his bearings. He knew that he wasn’t late, but he also knew that Severus would be early. Upon that thought he looked around and spotted the dark haired man at one of the tables near the back of the pub facing the entrance but close to one of the windows. How he looked blew Remus away. His Jet black hair had been pulled back in to a low tail away from his face and he wore a pair of tattered black denims and a white t-shirt. The t-shirt had been covered by a gray button down shirt with the sleeves rolled three quarters of the way up his arm showing a light dusting of black hair. Taking a double take Remus let out a short huff of air unbelieving that this man was the same one that he had seen two weeks previous, buttoned up nearly to his eyebrows. Just then the man in question caught Remus’s stare and raising one of the previous thought of eyebrows, motioned to the seat across from him at the table.

“Lupin” drawled Severus in the drawn out speech that Remus had known for over twenty years. “I was concerned you might have a problem finding this place, it’s not exactly bustling London or even Diagon Alley.”

“Severus, nice to see you, replied Remus, I had no trouble getting here. The Knight Bus was very accommodating; my only concern was arriving on time.”

”Just barely made it, but it will do” replied Severus

Just then the waitress arrived to take their order,” What can I do ya for this fine afternoon gentlemen?” asked the washed out blonde server eyeing up the two of them. She noticed the severe look of the dark haired man whom she had seen walking about town before, generally in the summertime and the sandy brown haired man with the jagged scars across his face and the tired eyes. Both were interesting looking in their own way and she wasn’t above sharing if they were interested.

With a smirk to his lips Severus replied “I’ll have a whiskey and so will my friend here.”

At those words Remus’s eyebrows rose and he looked questioningly towards Severus. As the waitress walked away Remus questioned, “What was that all about?”  
With another smirk Severus replied “Our sweet lass waitress was wondering if we would like to share her favors.”

If Remus had been drinking at that moment, he would have assuredly choked. As it was a blush made his way up from his chest to his cheeks and a little grin lit his lips.  
Another raised brow of Severus’ added to his blush as the waitress returned with their drinks and a bowl of pretzels for the table.

“Cheers” Remus said raising his glass to Severus whom also raised his glass with his sardonic smirk on his face, clinked it and drank it down in a single gulp, watching as Remus did the same, though with a slight watering of his eyes. 

“Not quite the same smoothness of a firewhiskey, but the burn hits the same.” remarked Snape with a small grin playing around his lips. Looking over at the waitress to order another round of drinks, he missed to shocked look on Remus’s face.

Remus could not get over how much younger Severus had looked in that single moment and he was immensely glad that he had decided to meet with him that afternoon.  
With lingering glances at the two of them the waitress returned with another shot of whiskey for both of them that they sat drinking quietly for a moment.  
Severus knew that the silence was driving the Gryffindor Wolf mad but the Slytherin in him appreciated the fact that it would unnerve him a bit.

“So Lupin, have you heard from your little Kia lately? Any little additional words of wisdom she wanted to impart?” asked Snape quietly.

“My little Kia? I don’t understand, I know no one by that name. I was puzzled when you referred to her in your letter.” Replied Remus

“A shortened name for the little Know it All, otherwise known as Miss Granger.” Said Snape

“Oh yes, now I get the reference. That really wasn’t well done of you Severus, she was quite upset after that class. I overheard the Weasley boy and a few others agreeing with your character assumption in the halls as she passed them.” admonished Remus.

“If she would stop showing off in every class, waving her infernal hand in the air, I might have a bit more patience with her. I’ve never seen someone so ruthlessly try to prove themselves in class.” replied Snape.  
“Are you sure that you’ve never seen it before Severus? asked Remus. I seem to recall another girl that felt that she needed to know everything and answer every question in class.”

Recalling the bight haired muggleborn friend of his youth, Snape’s face took on a hardened look. “If you are going to bring up ancient history, this will be a short meeting Lupin.” Snape’s voice took on a snarling quality, indicating that, that line of conversation should cease.

“Anyway, you should not have to worry about that this upcoming term Severus. That was actually something that we discussed prior to the end of term. She was unaware that there is no such thing as points for participation. She believed that by answering questions and assisting her classmates, that she was helping her grade. It is something that the muggle education system promotes to ensure that the students are paying attention in class and understanding the subject even if it doesn’t translate to their testing grades. I just can’t believe that I am the first teacher to broach the subject with her.” finished Remus.

“Yes, well Dumbledore doesn’t encourage sitting down with the muggleborn students and explaining the differences in the two worlds, at least if you are not their Head of House, and as I do not have any muggleborn students in my house, I have no experience there.” Explained Snape.

“Understood, but in response to your question, I haven’t heard from her in the last two weeks. She mentioned that she would be traveling to France with her family and inquired about Wizarding areas that she might visit, but other than that I haven’t seen or spoken to her since that day in your office.” replied Remus. 

Looking over at Remus, Snape finished his drink and set the glass back upon the table before speaking again. “And that is where our conversation needs to begin Lupin. If you are finished with your drink it is time to leave before our delightful server arrives to proposition us, besides this is too exposed of a place to have that type of discussion.”

“Of course Severus,” replied Remus as he placed a few notes on the table to cover his drinks and Snape did the same along with a small tip for said waitress, they turned and walked out the door into the darkening evening.


	9. Both Teams

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Twilight had fallen as the men exited the pub and began walking further down the road, past the dilapidated park, towards the river. The river itself looked more like sludge and smelled as toxic as it looked.

As they walked, Remus was silently looking around at his surroundings while keeping an eye on Severus and trying to ignore the scents drifting up from the river. Another two weeks until the next moonrise but still close enough to become bothersome. All of a sudden Snape stopped and turned to Remus.

“Really Lupin, that shirt? Please don’t tell me that you actually like that band.” questioned Snape.

Remus, forgetting which shirt he had put on that evening, looked down, the glow of a street light allowing him to read the lettering. Upon seeing it he started to laugh.

“Why Severus, are you telling me that you didn’t like them back in the day?”

“Absolutely not, replied Snape I wouldn’t be caught dead listening to that dreadful caterwauling.”

“They weren’t that bad and a few were quite fit.”

“Fit? They wore more makeup than the whole of Hogwarts female students combined” replied Severus

“Are you a muggle or a wizard Severus? I could see beyond the glam rock look and the drummer really didn’t really wear that much makeup, or maybe the one guitar player? 

“Hn, the one with the spiked, long hair? It was a bit too much even then.

“No, the one with the floppy hair, the come hither eyes and the pouty mouth.” Replied Remus

At this Severus gave Remus a sideways look and a little grin appeared. Less of a smirk and more of a curl of his lips and a small chuckle escaped. Remus almost couldn’t believe his ears, but a grin appeared on his own face as well and he rejoiced in the feeling of comradery. 

“I didn’t know that you, how do the American’s put it? Bat for the other team?” questioned Snape.

“Not only the other team Severus, I believe in batting for both teams,” Remus replied with a large wolfish grin of his own. 

As they continued walking, Remus felt a buzz of magic before they reached the row of brownstones. The pull of the wards on the houses was very strong in terms of wizard’s wards, however for a muggle it seemed more of a notice me not, particularly on the last home in the row. Again as Severus walked up to the dilapidated home, he performed several revealing spells before he felt comfortable enough to drop all but the notice me not charm and proceeded to unlock the front door.

Both men walked through the door and Snape flicked on the lights by the switch on the wall. Looking around Remus saw that it was a small entryway with several doors off of the hallway. The stench of the city fell away as the door closed and all that Lupin was able to smell was the scent of old books, new parchment and a bit of sandalwood that he had always associated with Severus. He noticed that Snape seemed to grow a bit more tense as they walked down the hall and into the kitchen where he turned on another light switch that illuminated the run down and worn linoleum floor and aging Aga stove. 

 

“It’s a place that’s not the school Lupin, nothing more.” Said Snape breaking the silence, seeming a bit embarrassed of his home.

“I wasn’t going to say anything Severus; I still live at my parents’ former home. It’s just a place to sleep.” Replied Remus

“Yeah, well. I suppose you are wondering why I insisted on speaking here”, said Snape as he put the kettle on the stove and pulled down two mugs and the makings for tea.

“Well as I am sure it is not to snog me senseless, I believe that you have another very good reason on speaking out of the public.”

“Lupin, have you finally gone round the bend? Asked Snape turning away from the tea tray to take a good look at Remus, “Maybe it is a side effect of the Wolfsbane, or maybe it is from being in contact with the children for so long this year, in particular Potter.”

“No, no Severus, just my intent to inject a little levity into a potentially serious conversation, I am sorry. Please continue.” Replied Remus looking down red cheeked at the scarred floor and Snape’s dragonhide boots.

“Yes, well, said Snape turning back to the tree tray, I do believe that it may do so at some point but my first point is that I am willing to continue to brew the potion for you.”

“Thank you, that really is good of you to offer, you don’t know how much I appreciate it.” Replied Remus

“It’s not just for you Lupin, said Snape handing a tea cup to the wolf, it is also to protect myself and others from your monthly moon syndrome.”

“Still, I am very appreciative of your generosity.”

“Secondly, there is the issue of that mutt Black, I had no idea he was an animagus but as he is and who knows how many other people are aware of that fact, it might behoove him to lay low. There is still a kiss on sight order out there for him. As much as I dislike the man, I dislike injustice more” added Snape.

“But why the concern?”

“Let’s just say that I’ve done a bit of investigating into Potter’s claim that his Godfather had not received a proper trial and why we were not questioned in regards to the man’s innocence on that night a few weeks ago.”

“What have you found out Severus?”

“I found out that the boy was speaking the truth for once, Black did not have a trial. He was dragged to Azkaban before one could be arranged.”

“No one questioned this?”

“No one knew but the investigating auror and his supervisor.”

“Albus never questioned it, did he?”

“Not that my contact is aware of.”

“Christ Severus, I never knew. I tried to visit him when I first got back. I was so pissed and so grief stricken I just wanted to kill him. I didn’t care that he was in Azkaban. He killed three of my best friends and I never suspected him of being the traitor.” In hindsight it was better that I wasn’t allowed to see him. I couldn’t even board the boat to get to the island.”

“Why not?”

“New Dark Creatures’ laws, they were presented by Fudge’s Undersecretary and voted in by the Wizengamut. No Dark Creatures are allowed to travel to Azkaban unless they are to be incarcerated. Like Werewolves are ever incarcerated.” Muttered Remus

“And Dumbledore, What did he have to say to you about the whole disaster?” asked Snape

“He advised me that Sirius had been taken care of and that Harry had been placed with relatives. When I asked if I could keep in touch with them in regards to my ties to his parents, he let me know that they had requested to raise Harry without interference from the magical world.”

“Do you know who he was placed with?”

“No, Dumbledore would not let me know who it was and Harry never mentioned his family by name when in my presence. I am sure that it is something that I may ask of Ms. Granger if she decides to write to me in regards to her studies or anything else she has questions about.”

“Yes. Well let me know if the Kia contacts you in regards to the boy.” said Snape. “Now regarding Trelawney’s newest prophecy, Did you happen to hear of any word of it besides Ms. Granger’s mention of it?

“No, Albus didn’t approach me and I haven’t heard from anyone from the old days of the order regarding it.”

“Albus hasn’t mentioned anything to me about it either.” Said Snape “He has been so focused on the upcoming school year and asking Moody if he will take the position of Defense against the Dark Arts professor.”

“Well it’s good to know that I am so easily replaced then.” Said Remus quietly

“If I had known that Albus was going to try and retain the services of Allister Moody.” Sighed Snape

“Well hindsight is twenty- twenty Severus. “

Yes Snape could acknowledge to himself that getting rid of the Wolf may have been a bit hasty, but old grudges heal slowly and hindsight is twenty-twenty when the auror that arrested you twelve years ago was about to become a coworker.

“I’ll keep my ear to the ground to see if there is any word of Pettigrew and his where a bout... I really wish that those menaces hadn’t knocked me out.” said Snape. “ I know that the word of an Ex- Death Eater turned Spy doesn’t hold much weight but maybe I could have at least stopped Pettigrew from transforming.”

“Severus at that point I don’t know if you would have been prepared to listen to anyone. You were quite upset at everyone as were Sirius and I. It took all of our will not to kill that rat. After fighting with us and then to listen to the whimpering excuses of that piece of shite, curses would have flown and someone could have gotten seriously hurt. It is enough that I almost killed all of you.” Said Remus once again staring at the floor as his hands tightened around his tea cup.

A bit unnerved Snape looked up at Remus, noticing he was again mentally berating himself. “It was a bit discerning seeing you transform and then of course the fight with the mutt and the swipe you tried to get me with, but once you heard the other wolf calling in the woods you took off pretty quickly.”

“Well I don’t actually remember that part, I’ll have to trust your word.” Remus stated his green eyes meeting Severus’.

“Well a first. We know how much that hasn’t happened over the years.” Mumbled Snape.  
Remus pretending not to have heard the remark continued drinking his tea.

“Where should I deliver the Wolfsbane to next time? 

“As I said I am still living in my parent’s old place. I have it hooked up to the floo system as The Den.”

“Yes, well not my greatest wish to enter the wolf’s lair but I will deliver your potions to you next Saturday. said Snape. And there should be no excuse for missing a dose.”

“Of course Severus, no excuses this time.” Parroted Remus properly accepting the chastisement…..


	10. Fire Away

Honey load up your questions  
And pick up your sticks and your stones  
And pretend I'm a shelter for heartaches  
That don't have a home  
Choose the words that cut like a razor  
And all that I'll say

Is fire away  
Take your best shot  
Show me what you got  
Honey, I'm not afraid  
Rear back and take aim  
And fire away  
Fire Away-Chris Stapleton

Chapter 10  
SSRLSSRLSSRLSSRLSSRLSSRLSSRLSSRLSSRLSSRLSSRLSSRLSSRLSSRLSSRL

The sound of the floo activating was overshadowed by the loudness of the fighting going on at the residence known as “The Den”. Leery of walking into a fight and possibly getting hexed, Severus slid his wand from his sleeve and palmed it slowly following the noise. Around the corner he crept, feeling like he was walking into a war zone with the amount of yelling he was hearing, slightly indistinct over some words and others were painfully enunciated.

“Why the hell didn’t you come to find me to ask me what was going on? Why did you suspect me in the first place? When had I ever not had yours and James’s back before? Why the fuck would you think that I was working for Voldemort?”

“Moony we had no way to reach you, no one had any idea where you were half of the time and Dumbledore believed that there was a traitor in our midst. What were we supposed to believe?”

“You were supposed to fucking trust me like I trusted you for all of those years. Even after that stunt in sixth year. I learned to trust you again and I never stopped trusting James and Lily, they were my best friends since first year. All of you were!”

“Moony, we hadn’t seen or heard from you in over 4 months, before that you were home for a week and we barely saw you and when we did you wouldn’t tell us where you had been or what you had been doing.”

Now Severus realized the other voice was Blacks and it seemed like there was going to be a big blowout from the sound of things. The wolf was not happy.

“I was on my own missions you mutt. Did you guys tell me what you were up to with the Aurors and the other Order members? I didn’t have the luxury of joining up with the Aurors and was warned not to go on Order missions because if I had been caught I would probably be killed instead of getting a trial.” Explained Remus

“Why didn’t you answer any of the owls that we sent? Why couldn’t you drop us a message?” questioned Sirius angrily.

“Yes, because that was going to be so easy as I tried not getting myself killed by the other wolf packs that I was trying to infiltrate and bring over to our side even though I had my own pack, or at least thought I did until you proved that you didn’t trust me by making Peter the secret keeper. The one Marauder that as a child couldn’t keep a secret for longer than five minutes.”

“I was supposed to be Secret Keeper but thought that it would be too obvious, you were nowhere to be found and Peter was willing.” Replied Sirius 

“Yes and we see how well that worked out,” spat out Remus. “No one else came to mind then? Alice, Frank, Dumbledore?”

“Why are we still fighting about this?” Asked Sirius. “Why the hell didn’t you come to visit me in that hell hole once you returned and found out what happened?”

“And do what? The last I had heard, you were the Secret Keeper and three of my friends were dead and my best friend’s son was an orphan. I was ready to kill you myself!” yelled Remus

Severus stood at the corner of the room watching the war unfold. He wasn’t present or even in his right mind when this had been happening. He had just lost the one person left in the world that he had loved completely and he had been arrested outside of Hogwarts because another Death Eater had pointed their finger at him, trying to get a reduced sentence.  
“Why would you believe that I would betray James and Lily? When had I ever expressed a wish to join Voldemort? You knew what my family was like; you knew I never wanted anything to do with him or his views. Everyone knew that I was disowned by my family for not joining up. Why would anyone think that I could do that?” screamed Sirius

“Sixth year Sirius." Replied Remus warily.

“That crap with Snivelus? What the hell does that have to do with betraying James and Lily?” Questioned Sirius.

“It’s when you betrayed me.” Replied Remus more quiet this time “It showed that you were capable of doing horrible things.”

“It was Snivelus.”

“It was a human boy Sirius, the same age as us and it was me.”

“It had nothing to do with you!”

“It had everything to do with me!” Stormed Remus “If I had bitten and turned him or if I had killed him, I would have been killed!” “ They don’t give fair trials to Werewolves Sirius!” “They never have and they never will!”

“Dumbledore wouldn’t have let them do that!” said Sirius

“He wouldn’t have had a choice Sirius!” “And if he did, how do you think I could have lived with myself after that?”

“It was only Snape.”

“Yes it was only Snape, who we had bullied for the entire time we knew him.” 

“What did you have a thing for him Moony? Is that why you are bringing all of this shite up now?” 

“No, not a thing for him in that way Sirius; But I could have been friends with him if I hadn’t gone along with all of the pranks and stood by as you and James tortured him in front of Lily.”

Remus knew the moment that Severus had walked in the room but was too consumed in fury over the conversation that had begun between him and Sirius. A lot of things were said that should have been said a long time ago, but time, distance and Azkaban had prevented it. He wasn’t upset that he had heard it but knew that once Sirius realized that he was there it was going to get that much worse.

Sirius took a deep breath about to start another rant when he caught the scent of someone else in the room. Whipping his head around he sneered “Snape!”

“Don’t mind me mutt, I’m just the delivery boy today.” Explained Snape holding the box with Remus’s potions in front of him, wandlessly and wordlessly casting an unbreakable charm on the contents, not wanting to waste the valuable potion inside and the time he had spent making it.

The maniacal look of fury in Blacks’ eyes gave Severus pause with how eerily familiar to his cousin Bellatrix he looked in that moment and it was that look that caused him to raise a shield to block the hex that Sirius shot off at him.

“What the fuck is wrong with you Black? I had nothing to do with what you and the missus are fighting about right now.” Claimed Severus with a scowl firmly in place.

“Bollocks, it is your fault! “Sirius screamed. “Every fucking thing is your fault! If you had just stayed the fuck away from Lily they would both be alive!”

“How dare you?” growled Snape. “I was friends with her first and you and Potter and the rest of you arseholes wouldn’t leave us alone!” “You had no right to interfere with our friendship!”

“If you had just slithered away like a good little snake we would have left you alone!” yelled Sirius

“Like you left Regulus alone as a first year?” replied Snape “He couldn’t take a piss without you and Potter jumping him just for being sorted into Slytherin.”

“Leave my brother out of this; if it wasn’t for you he wouldn’t have joined that Bastard!”

“Yes, of course that is my fault too, it couldn’t have been your psychotic cousin Bella or your mother that pushed him to do that? Are you going to blame me for you ending up in Azkaban too or are you going to finally grow up and take some responsibility for that? Next you’ll be blaming me for him being a werewolf.” Huffed Snape.

“It probably was your fault! Your Death Eater father probably sicked Greyback on the Lupin family!” yelled Sirius

“Sirius your being Bloody ridiculous!” Said Remus

“My father was a bloody Muggle you half-wit! “snarled Snape. “Lupin here is your potion and as long as that mutt is anywhere near this place, there is no fucking way that I am delivering it here again!”

“Sure, just another way to hold his being a werewolf over his head Snape! Does it make you feel powerful?”

“Shut the fuck up Black and stay out of it!”

“Sirius please shut up!” Begged Remus “Severus please don’t leave yet. We need to talk.”

“Until that mongrel can learn to shut his bloody mouth I am through here!” growled Snape stalking back towards the floo.

Quickly walking after him Remus rushed forward and grabbed Severus by the hand trying to stall him.

And then everything changed…..


	11. Backup Plan

At the touch of Remus’s hand on his own, Severus whipped himself around and froze staring into Remus’s face. With the shock he saw reflected in the wolf’s eyes he knew that he wasn’t the only one caught up in the images that were flashing in front of him. Images so fantastic in nature that his breath caught in his throat and his heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. The electrical shock that he felt going through his body seemed to emanate from their joined hands. It took a moment before he was able to draw a deep breath and break eye contact with Lupin.

 

At the moment of release he tore his hand out of Remus’s grip and with a snarl charged back after Sirius, grabbing him by his shirt, knocking his wand from his hand, grasping his own and pressing it against the side of his temple.

 

“What the fuck did you do? What spell did you hit us with you bloody mutt?” growled Severus.

 

“Get your bloody hands off of me Snape! I didn’t hex you with anything, what the bloody hell are you on about?” gasped Sirius

 

Not believing him for a moment Severus sneered at him, looked into his eyes and snarled” Legilimens”

 

Remus rushed over to Severus trying to pull him back from Sirius but looking at him with distrust in his eyes as well, all he could do is watch as Snape rifled through the images in Sirius brain trying to identify which curse or charm he had hit the two of them with.

 

“Fuck!” exclaimed Severus shoving Sirius away and looking at Remus with the same shocked expression on his face that had been mirrored in his own face minutes before.

 

“What did you see Severus?” asked Remus “What did he use?  
”

“I didn’t cast anything!” yelled Sirius “What the bloody hell was that about?” he questioned calling his wand back to his hand.

 

Looking at Severus he knew that what Sirius had said was true, so if they weren’t hexed or charmed what the hell was it that they saw? He knew that Severus had seen if not what he saw then something pretty damn remarkable to elicit that reaction.

 

“I need to leave”, stuttered Severus definitely not composed at all, with jerky movements he ran back to the fireplace, grabbed some floo powder and whispered his destination taking off in a flash of green light.

 

“Fuck!” exclaimed Remus rushing after him but unable to catch him this time or even hear the destination he had called out.

 

“Moony! What the hell just happened? What was Snivilus going on about? Merlin my head is killing me. Why the fuck didn’t you stop him?” Sirius just kept randomly yelling questions at him.

“Christ Sirius, just shut up for a moment! I can’t even hear myself think!” Yelled Remus.

 

At this outburst Sirius became quiet. Cocking his head to the side he drew a deep breath and just stared in shock at the picture in front of him. Remus was pacing back and forth mumbling to himself, tugging on his hair and running his hands down his stubbled cheeks. He looked completely unraveled. Hearing the words “No, No, No.” repeated over and over again. Finally unable to stand not knowing what was going on, Sirius stepped in front of Remus and grabbed him by his shoulders.  
Remus looked up at Sirius and that is when he noticed the startling amber of his friend’s eyes. It wasn’t just Remus in there, it was Moony too and they both looked scared, so scared by whatever they had seen. But Sirius could also see hope shining quietly in his eyes and wondered again what had happened. It scared and angered him because he knew that it was tied to Snape.

“What did Snape do to you Remus?” growled Sirius angrily “Is he why all of this shite came up? Why you were so upset earlier?”

“Will you listen to yourself Sirius?” asked Remus with an edge to his voice “Why the hell can’t I be mad at you, at James, at Lily?” You act like I betrayed you all and then blame it on Snape as well! He has nothing to do with how angry I am over this!”

“Why the fuck would you be mad at James and Lily? Peter is the one that betrayed us all!” yelled Sirius

“Why would I be mad? Why would I be furious with them? Because they didn’t let anyone know that you changed secret Keepers! Because they didn’t leave any back up information in case you couldn’t take care of Harry! Because they left nothing behind for him but a vault with school money in it and no other guardian but Petunia! Remus screamed.

“What do you mean no backup?” Asked Sirius his eyes wild “Dumbledore knew of the switch, he performed the fidelus charm himself. They left a will…. What do you mean that Petunia is his guardian?”

“Who do you think has been taking care of him for thirteen years Padfoot?” “Why were you sent to Azkaban Sirius?” asked Remus  
“For supposedly killing Peter and those muggles.”

“NO! For betraying Jamie and Lily, Padfoot and then for the other murders.”

“NO, Dumbledore knew that I didn’t betray them, that I couldn’t betray them. I am Harry’s Godfather! I couldn’t hurt them or put him in danger!” cried Sirius beginning to breathe heavily and blink rapidly.

“Who else betrayed us Sirius?”

“No, No, No! He wouldn’t do that! He knew that Peter was the Secret Keeper! No I have to talk to him! I have to know that he didn’t leave me in that hell because of that. That he didn’t subject Harry to living with Petunia all of those years! He knew Moony! He was there! What the fuck? I don’t understand cried Sirius pulling on his hair and rubbing his chest, his eyes wild.

And at that time Remus looked at Sirius and knew that he was going to break, that he was going to snap and his arse would end up back in Azkaban again, but this time kissed before he was sent back! He couldn’t allow that. “I’m sorry Padfoot, I can’t let you leave until I know what is going on and until you calm down.” Pointing his wand at one of his first friends he quietly said, “Stupefy” and as Sirius eyes closed he grabbed him around the waist before he could hit the floor and pulled him over to the couch, lifting him and arranging him more comfortably before looking around his small cottage that he hadn’t even been able to show Severus around after he had spent the week making it look less like a bachelor pad and more like a home. Not that it mattered but still he made an effort. Seeing the crate of vials he grabbed the first one and poured it into the goblet that Severus had included. Shuddering he quaffed it down trying not to throw it back up. “ I swear he makes it taste that bad on purpose.” Remus said to himself, cleaning the goblet with his wand and replacing the vial back into the crate.

Looking around again Remus decided to add a few things to his wards that would keep Sirius in but also not allow anyone else in. He closed his floo and locked it, he added a ward to notify him if Sirius awoke and if there was any other visitor trying to access his house. With all of that completed, he left the house and proceeded to flag down the Knight Bus. He had a Potion Master to find and questions that needed answering.


	12. Memories

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS  
Severus sat in the dark of his home staring at the glass of firewhiskey clasped in both of his hands. If he hadn’t been gripping the glass so tightly he feared that it would have been spilled down the front of him with how badly his hands appeared to be shaking. They hadn’t been this unsteady since the last time that he kneeled before the Dark Lord after failing to hide his anguish at the thought of Lily’s family being murdered.

It hadn’t happened yet and he had been hopeful to try and warn them that they had been betrayed and that they needed to leave, but it hadn’t been meant to be. By failing in that one moment to occlude his emotions, he failed the only people that he truly loved. He had been tortured for hours by Bellatrix LeStrange and her sick bastard of a husband. It wasn’t even the Dark Lord who had ordered the torture. No, Voldemort hadn’t seen what was believed to be a betrayal. It had been his Mad as a Hatter want to be Mistress of the Dark that caught the fleeting emotion in his eyes and followed through to see him punished for the perceived betrayal.

She had thrown cutting hexes at him followed by the cruciatis curse all of the while screaming at him and asking him over and over again where the blood traitor Potters and their itty bitty baby boy were hiding. Her husband pulling him by his hair while kicking him repeatedly in his ribs and kidneys at the orders of the deranged witch until he finally passed out after screaming himself hoarse but still refusing to break, claiming over and over again that he didn’t know where the filthy mudblood and her bastard husband and child were hiding. Never breaking cover and unable to further betray his family by repudiating them.

It could have been the worst night of his life if the Dark Lord had not decided to move forward with his plans two nights later on October 31st, 1981.

Severus was preparing to leave Malfoy Manor after being put back together by Lucius and Narcissa when Voldemort made his move. By the time that he had made it to Godrics Hollow it was all over and he was too late. Lily and James Potter were both dead, The Dark Lord had been vanquished and Harry Potter was the only survivor. As he took in the destruction of their home and the bodies of James and Lily his heart broke. Gathering Lily in his arms he screamed and sobbed out her and Jamie’s name over and over again. That is where Dumbledore found him amongst the rubble of the home that he had believed would protect them. That is where Dumbledore took away everything that he had left to live for. 

He had obliviated him and portkeyed him back to Hogwarts. He had lost this memory until Remus had grabbed his arm as he was hurrying to leave the home of the wolf. At that touch the memory of that night as well as so many others were released. He also gained a new complication and the combinations of both were staggering, causing the shaking to affect his hands and normal calm self. It had broken through every wall he had erected and that had been erected in his mind and he was now completely lost.

In losing his self the wards around his home dropped and when Remus walked up to the house in Spinners End he was terrified of what he might find. He knew how paranoid Severus Snape was, almost as paranoid as Alastor Moody and the only way that his wards would have dropped was if something terrible had happened and he no longer had the magic to sustain them or was dead. 

At a run Remus bound into the house, frantically searching the foyer and hallway for any sign of forced entry or of even worse the damaged or dead body of Snape.  
Taking a deep breath to calm himself he drew closer to the library, wand out, tip lit. Cautiously looking around the corner, fearful of what he might find. What he did find surprised him almost as much as their previous encounter.

Severus sat upon the settee; hands shaking around a glass of firewhiskey with the bottle sitting on the table beside him that appeared to be half gone, whether it was from the last few hours or if it had been previously diminished. He sat staring ahead with silent tears rolling down his sallow cheeks and the look of utter heartbreak upon his face.

The sight of one of the strongest wizards that he had ever known in such a state shocked Remus to his core. All of the terrorizing and bullying that he had endured during his school years had never brought that look to Severus’s face. The sound of his breath hitching nearly brought him to his knees.

Cautiously, still unsure of any injuries that Severus may have experienced, he sat upon the settee next to him, waiting for him to either acknowledge his presence or hex him from his house.

While these thoughts ran through Remus’s head, Severus didn’t even notice that anyone had entered his house, let alone sat beside him. He was so lost in the memories of his past that he had lost for so many years. That had been forcibly taken from him just like the child that he had spent the last 3 years bullying and terrorizing, continuing the lies that had saved him the night of Bellatrix’s torture, the child that should have been raised as his, once the dark lord was no more. They had plans, had made contingencies and that bastard had made them obsolete by obliviating him.

All of a sudden Severus stood up and threw his glass at the wall, followed quickly by the remainder of the bottle. Grabbing his head and pulling his fingers through his hair he roared out his pain, still unaware that he was silently being watched. When he reached for the coffee mug off of the end table and the ashtray that sat beside it ready to throw those against the wall as well he felt arms wrap around him, pulling him close to the body beside him that he hadn’t noticed until that moment.

“Let go, Let me go please,’ begged Severus desperately, sounding so much younger and in such agony. “I need to find him and kill him” he cried, tears and rage stiffening the features of his face.

Severus tried to struggle against the arms holding him, but as thin and as lanky as they seemed, their strength was that of the werewolf and in spite of holding him tightly, he did not want to hurt him. Watching his heartache and hearing the hitch in his breath and the way that his body went limp in his arms all he could do was hold him up and whisper for him to hush, that it would be alright and to just hold onto him. 

It was becoming more and more apparent to Remus that Severus hadn’t seen what he had seen when their hands touched or if he had, that he wasn’t taking it very well if he was this worked up that he wanted to kill someone. He felt a bit let down by this realization but knew that he must keep it together in order to help Severus through this crisis. Again this evening he found himself needing to control a situation, just as he had with Padfoot, however, he didn’t think that he would have as easy of a time stupefying Snape.

When it became apparent that Severus was starting to calm himself a bit, the hitches in his breath coming out as soft pants, Remus finally brought himself together enough to ask. “Would it really be that bad Severus? You and me together with someone that we could love and could give us children?

For a moment Severus experienced confusion and then realized that he was being held so tightly by Remus Lupin, the werewolf that had tried to kill him while at school and beyond that thought he really didn’t care. Looking into the eyes of his one-time enemy he realized that there were so many more complications than just his memories being returned to him after all of these years and the thought of it all brought back the pain and grief that he had been denied.

“No, no,” he stuttered “It s not that at all” Severus said slightly out of breath trying to get his emotions together and failing miserably. “This isn’t just you and I Remus and what we may have seen earlier. It is so much bigger than just us. I can’t even wrap my head around what I saw, what you may have seen and what it all means. There are so many memories big and small that were taken from me and I am just getting them back. He took them from me, they took them from me.” Snape said with that heartbreaking look in his eyes once again. They took them all from me. I was theirs and they were meant to be mine and we were supposed to have a beautiful life together. They took them away from me and then he took away my ability to grieve for them and begin again with our child. I was theirs first Remus and James and Lily were mine.”


	13. The Touch of Your Hand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this is taking a bit longer than I thought it might and it still has a long way to go. Lol Were you surprised by the turn of events? I was surprised and I wrote it! Now where do I go from here? Explanations, memories and expectations.  
> I would love to hear what you all think of this chapter, and I am so very thankful for all of your, follows, faves and reviews. Thank you.  
> I am waiting for the end of the election tonight and keeping my fingers crossed which is making it a bit hard to type but I will persevere.  
> Disclosure: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters mentioned. Any bits of the story that you recognize belong to J.K Rowling and any that you do not recognize are obviously mine.

Chapter 13

 

The look on Remus’s face would have been comical if Severus’ mind hadn’t been reliving some of the worst days of his life. He looked absolutely gob-smacked. It was the absolute last thing that he had ever expected to hear, that he had a child, but after the admission about James and Lily, the comment about a child made much more sense.  
“I don’t understand.” Said Remus looking at Severus, now sitting beside him, much closer than he expected no matter how small the settee and the fact that it was currently the only piece of furniture in the room besides the end table.

 

Sighing Severus looked down at his hands where he could see several scars from both particularly volatile potions as well as others that had occurred during his childhood and young adulthood. Focusing on his hands, he didn’t have to meet the eyes of Remus and he found it slightly easier to tell him about his bond with James and Lily Potter.  
“It started with the touch of a hand.” He said as he began his explanation. “I ran into Lily in Diagon Alley one afternoon. We were walking past each other, not acknowledging each other as usual until all of a sudden she stopped. She stopped and called my name, the name that she called me when we were children. And then I stopped, not thinking about who might be watching. She called me Sev. Just Sev, so softly and I stopped walking. I couldn’t look at her, without fear of her seeing everything on my face, so I just stood there waiting. When she didn’t speak again I started walking away, not wanting to get my hopes up, or draw attention to her. I knew she was pregnant, I knew that they had defied the Dark Lord many times already. And as I was walking away from her she grabbed my hand and time stood still.”

 

With a deep breath he grabbed Remus’s hand and once again was assaulted by images, screwing his eyes shut he had to consciously pry them open to watch Remus’s face as he experienced the same. He knew that Remus was seeing the same thing as he. The feelings of experiencing this phenomenon fourteen years after the first time he had was very disconcerting but made his heart race and his skin flush. It also filled him with great fear. He had lost his family already. He never had the chance to grieve them properly, never knew that he had experienced that love in his life, that he had seen a future so beautiful that it was crippling to know that he had lost it and never, ever thought that he would get that chance again. With of all people as the person next to him, it was baffling. The werewolf that almost killed him just months ago and some unknown woman were meant for him according to fate and he had no idea why anyone would believe him worthy of such a gift.

Looking at Remus, he saw his pupils dilate and become a bit more amber in the light of the street lamp that shone through his window. He saw his cheeks flush a bit as he stared right back at him through the visions and the look of utter disbelief cross his face at the thought that it might be true. Releasing his hand he saw the vision fade and the questions appear in his eyes to replace the wonder.

“How did we not know that you were bonded with James and Lily? We never saw you with them. I would have remembered seeing you there.” 

 

“Would you have?” asked Severus “I didn’t until we initiated our own bond. I forgot almost two years of my life with them. I lost memories of first seeing our bond, meeting with them afterwards to initiate it with James, talking to them about everything from school and the attacks against me, the name that I called Lily, the rift from the end of fifth year with Lily until then. I forgot our first kiss that established the bond to take away the hurts, the touching of hands, the resting together, the birth of Harry whom I was ready to call mine, his first steps and first words. Those memories were stolen from me!” growled Severus getting a bit more worked up. “Our child was stolen from me along with my memories of my family and all that I was left with was the feeling that something was missing, the look on Lily’s face when she refused my apology and my hatred for Jamie and any child born that looked like him.”

 

Taking a deep breath he continued. “You didn’t see it, Black didn’t see it and Pettigrew never saw it. We knew that there was a spy in the Order that belonged to the Dark Lord and we never trusted anyone with that knowledge.”

 

“What about when you completed the Bond? Wouldn’t people have realized it then? Asked Remus

 

“We never completed it.” Said Severus sadly. “We were too afraid that the Dark Lord would have seen it, that he would have found out about it or that someone else might see it. We were together in every way but we never consummated our bond out of fear, now I wonder if it might have saved them if we had.”

 

“You don’t know that Severus.” replied Remus

 

“No I don’t.” growled Snape “We never got the chance to research bonds, not with them in hiding and me in the service of the Dark Lord and Albus Fucking Dumbledore! We were afraid and always leery that we were being watched, by friends, by enemies, by mentors and masters. We were so in love and so afraid of people finding out before the war was over.”

 

Remus felt very awkward asking, but now knowing what Severus believed to be true, he had to ask. “Why didn’t you know about the bond in school? Severus you had to have come into contact with Lily during school. And what about James? I know that you two didn’t get along….”

“That is an understatement.” Replied Severus with a tight lipped smirk.

 

Remus continued looking at Snape with that questioning, patient look upon his face.

 

“Do you honestly think that I held hands with anyone at Hogwarts, let alone with Lily? We were always targeted either by your gang of arseholes or the dunderheads of my house that couldn’t get over me even being friends with a muggleborn.”

 

“Mudblood, that’s what you called her.” Said Remus quietly.

 

Standing up Severus glared at Remus “I know exactly what I called her that day Lupin. I also recall the circumstances that led up to it. How magnanimous would you feel hanging by your ankle, by a spell of your creation, with soap in your mouth and your pants pulled down? A crowd of people gathering around and your best friend trying to defend you that you know is friends with the gits that have been tormenting you for the last five years. I never meant to say that word. I never associated it with her and I apologized until I was blue in the face for it and she still left me.”

 

“And when James and Lily got together? Wouldn’t they have seen you were part of their bond? Remus asked quietly

 

“They knew there was a third in their bond and had an idea that it was me, but between what I had said at the lake, how Lily was raised and their certainty that I was involved with The Dark Lord, they had no intention in approaching me no matter how badly it hurt them. Until that day in Diagon Alley and she touched my hand.” Finished Severus softly. His mind getting lost in the memories of finally being able to kiss Lily, to learning to love James, belonging to a family and being loved.

 

“I don’t know how to do this again Remus.” Severus said looking Remus in his eyes his own eyes reflecting his inner turmoil. “I loved them all so much and he took them from me and I don’t know why. He took my child from me and I don’t know the reason he turned me against him. And I am scared to death to open myself to another bond and find out why my first one was destroyed.”


	14. Country Songs and Light Shows

Chapter 14

Country Songs and Light Shows

HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG

“Hermione dear, are you almost ready to leave darling?” called Gwendolyn Granger upstairs to where her daughter was supposed to be getting ready to leave for their day out. It was quite early in the morning but they had multiple stops to make that day and needed to make their timetable to insure success.

 

“I’ll be down in a minute Mum.” Called Hermione pulling a comb through her still damp hair and adjusting the skirt on her new dress. The dress that she had picked up while with her parents in Paris just a week ago, had a cute sleeveless blue and white horitzontal stripe tank on top and a yellow flared skirt on bottom. Topped with a white cardigan and a white headband and strappy nude sandals Hermione felt ready to face the day. They were having breakfast with her father before he opened the dental practice and then going on to meet with her contact Madame Gregston at the local secondary school that she attended remotely and then finally to Diagon Alley to pick up her school supplies for the upcoming year and to exchange money for any incidentals that might come up as well as for Hogsmeade weekends. Grabbing her satchel off of her trunk that sat at the end of her bed she walked out of her bedroom and down the stairs to where her mother waited for her.

 

“Do you have everything sweetheart?” asked Mrs. Granger

“Yes mum.” Replied Hermione

“Your school work? I know it was a lot this year and I don’t know how you got it all done with all of your classes that you wrote about. You did complete it didn’t you dear?”

“Yes mum, I completed the school work, I had extra time this past year.” Answered Hermione with a bit of a smirk.

 

“You have your list for this school year?”

“Yes mum, a complete list of everything that I need for Hogwarts. It was a blessing that you wanted to buy a formal dress for pictures this year as I need one for school anyways and the dress robes we found in Paris look enough like muggle clothes that no one noticed.”

“Yes dear, it was quite fortunate that we found those robes in Paris and you look absolutely breath taking in them once we had your hair and make-up done. You looked like an absolute princess.” Exclaimed Mrs. Granger

“Maybe not as beautiful as that blonde girl that was in the robe shop with us. She looks to be one that looks stunning in whatever she wears.”

“Yes, well looks aside she was not very friendly when she found out that you were not attending the school that she goes to though we do have family in France.”

 

“She goes to Beauxbatons I believe. I don’t know why she seemed to have a problem with where I go to school. Even with how cool she was, she was still nice enough to point the way to the book store in the area and it’s not like I’ll run into her anytime soon.”

“Well any witch that can point out a bookstore to you is a good friend in your book.”

“Mum, you always told me not to judge a book by its cover; I’m trying not to judge this witch by her cover.” Replied Hermione cheekily

“Touché, daughter of mine.” Said Mrs. Granger. “You have your money from Grand’Mere and Grandpere for this coming school year?”

“Yes mum, now we have to leave or else we will never meet dad on time.” Exclaimed Hermione, taking her mother by the hand, grabbing her keys off of the console and pulling her out the door. “Mum, don’t let me forget to go to the owlry. I have a few things that I need to mail out today.

 

The morning passed quickly with a lovely meal with her father at the local café near the practice, where her parents both went on about her dress, how lovely her hair looked as well as the pictures that were taken over the summer. It felt un-natural to her as she had never been overly concerned with her looks. It felt more as if they had read a book on how to get your daughter to dress and look less like the boy next door and more like an acceptable little miss, or some such nonsense. Not knowing if it was an actual book they had consulted, she held her tongue, but her research and learning tendencies had to come from somewhere.

 

After visiting with her father, she and her mother traveled into London to meet with her contact at the secondary school she attended remotely for the last three years. While her parents were proud and excited about her being a witch, they did not want her to neglect her regular studies in case the need arose for her to find employment in the Muggle world. She had been studying for her A-levels for the last year and hoped to complete her muggle education early. After speaking with Madame Gregston about course selection and receiving her new stack of books and list of extra materials needed, She was asked once again if she wished to actually attend the school and both she and her mother declined stating the excuse of traveling back and forth between London and Scotland to visit with sick relatives as well as traveling for business reasons of Mr. and Mrs. Granger. Madame Gregston was of course worried about Hermione’s social skills, in which Mrs. Granger replied that Hermione was very social with friends and family and her grandmothers had drilled deportment into her from the time that she began walking and talking.

Seemingly satisfied, Hermione and her mother left the meeting and headed towards the Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley.

Walking into the Leaky Cauldron she gazed around the room, noting several people that she recognized from school, but wasn’t very close too along with people that she assumed were their parents and siblings. Not stopping, knowing that they still had several hours of plans to get through, she dropped her wand arm and allowed her wand to slide into her palm from the wand holster attached to her forearm and concealed by her cardigan. It was a new purchase she had made while in the Le Marais, or the magical district of Paris that Professor Lupin had told her about. She felt better having her wand secured to her person rather that shoved in her pocket or hidden beneath her shirts. It also had a nifty feature of an anti-summoning charm on it that would protect her from being disarmed. Not knowing if these were limited to France or if they were available in London she had ordered three of them. One for herself made of dragon hide in a beautiful Welsh Green skin that was a bit iridescent, one made from Basilisk hide for Harry seeing a bit of poetic justice in it and one made of eel skin in the color of Chudley Cannon Orange for Ron. Hopefully they would appreciate the convenience of them as she had planned on giving them theirs for Christmas presents. She then tapped the bricks in front of her in order so that they could access the alley.

As she made her way through the shops, checking off each item on her lists, she felt herself drawn to the confectioners shop much to her mother’s contention where she purchased chocolate frogs for Harry, dried fruits and several pastries that would be held in stasis until unwrapped. She planned on taking these to the owlery to have them delivered for his birthday. She then picked up a large chocolate bar for Professor Lupin that she intended to have delivered to him along with the letter that she had written him in response to his and she picked up some tooth flossing mints for her father as he had told her he had greatly enjoyed them when she brought them back from school with her at the end of term.

 

After having her packages wrapped and attaching her letters to them, she delivered them to the owlry to have them delivered to their intended recipients and then made her way to Madame Malkin’s to have new robes made, to pick up a few skirts which her mother had her try on to make sure that they were not too large on her or too short, she also picked up a few new blouses that also had to be tried on, new stockings and shoes that were a bit less childish than the Mary Janes that she had been wearing the last three years.

“Now sweetheart, I am not expecting you to start dressing inappropriately but I do want you to take a bit more pride in how your clothes fit you and how you feel in them. I know that having to wear a uniform five days a week can stifle your creative self a bit but there is no reason to dress frumpily either. We’ll also touch up your weekend clothes a bit before the start of term. Now you mentioned you wanted to look for a larger trunk, where would we go to locate one of those and won’t it be too heavy to carry to the train if you go larger just to pack more books away in it?” asked her mother.

Her mother had definitely been reading self-help and family managing books again.

“No mum, I’ll ask to have a feather-light charm placed on the trunk so that when I need to lift it, it won’t be a strain or if Dad tries to lift it, it won’t give him a hernia.” Giggled Hermione softly.

“Well, let us march on and complete our lists so that we can have a nice cuppa along with a hearty dinner. All of this shopping has me beat and I want you to take it a little easier too darling. Don’t think that I don’t remember how pale you were when you returned home from school this time, along with that bit of a hiccup you had the other night.” Cautioned Mrs. Granger.

“Mum, I’m fine. I was just a bit overwhelmed last term at school and the other night might have just been a magical surge. It’s not uncommon as witches and wizards get older as well as the fact that I can’t use magic at home without getting a warning.”

“Yes, well I’m sure that the children of magical families are not as restricted at home as the non-magical raised children. It seems a bit unfair. At least it was only the lights flickering for those few hours. It was quite the light show though sweetheart.” 

“Especially as you and Dad, after freaking out at first used the opportunity to play that new CD player and those terrible country cd’s and dance as if you were at a rodeo.” Replied Hermione with a bit of a grin. 

“They are not terrible country music CD’s Hermione and it is a Honky Tonk, not a rodeo! And besides I heard you singing along to the one song in the shower just this morning!” Replied Mrs. Granger mildly affronted.

“That’s because you had it on repeat for 25 minutes.”

“It speaks of great sentiment, your father and I both recognize;

“Of course mum and I recognize the sentiment also, and when I meet the man of my dreams I will share it with him and he will recognize it too.” Replied Hermione with just a touch of snark and a smirk on her lips.

“Just you wait missy, you’ll meet that man of your dreams and everything will click and you’ll hear that song in the back of your mind.” Replied her mother with the same amount of snark and smirk.

“Of course I’ll hear it, as long as you and Dad keep playing it on repeat!”

“Just ask someone about the whole flickering lights bit, sweetheart. I know that you think that it is a normal everyday occurrence, but just to be on the safe side, see if anyone can fill you in.”

“It will be the first thing that I research once I get back amongst the magical and school.” Hermione replied with a genuine grin. She absolutely could not wait to get back to school. Not just to cram herself full of knowledge like some people thought, namely Ronald but also to use her magic. She felt cramped and achy while she was home and until she turned 17, unless she could do it wandless it didn’t get done. There were a few spells that she had mastered wandless and non verbal and even at her young age it was a bit awe inspiring, but she had only learned those out of necessity after her second year, and as long as she didn’t set off any alarms at the ministry, she would continue using them as needed.

“Let’s go mum; I’ll buy you a parfait over at Florean Fortescues as long as I can have a scoop of triple chocolate caramel ice cream.” Grinned Hermione at her mother as they enjoyed the end of a very nice summer day together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really and truly appreciate everyone that has left me Kudos on this story as well as those of you that have bookmarked it and are subscribed. Thank you so much. I am always eager for reviews as well!


	15. Chapter 15 An Ache So Deep

SSRL  
Morning of July 23rd, 1994

Saturday morning found Remus crawling back into bed after a particularly rough transformation. He knew that the Wolfsbane had been brewed correctly, because hello, Severus Snape brewed it. However, for the last few days he had felt sore and weak as was the norm prior to a full moon but his symptoms seemed to have increased in intensity. It was all he could do to pull himself up from his warded cellar, down the hall and into his bedroom, bypassing even trying to heal up the worst of his bruises and scratches that he had inflicted the night before. 

Relishing the coolness of his sheets against his heated skin and regretting the blood stains he knew would be left behind he attempted to ignore the persistent ache in his chest and tried to fall asleep. 

Just as he was drifting off he heard his floo activate and knowing he only had it keyed to certain people for access and those that did have access knew that the evening before had been a full moon, he barely stirred. As he relaxed a bit further into his bed he caught the smell of sandalwood, fresh herbs, old books and new parchment and while the familiar scents did not ease the pain in his chest, it did help him to relax a bit further.

 

It had taken him a week to come to grips with everything that he had learned and remembered. A week to get past some of the agony, pain and grief that he had been unable feel with their deaths and the loss of their child. He also had to face the truth of how he himself had behaved these last fifteen years and in particular the way that he had treated Harry. He had looked at the child and had seen only James and Lily as they had been in school; the bully and the best friend that never forgave him.

He believed him to be a privileged child who had never suffered in his life. He really should have known better. He should have noticed from the beginning how much smaller he was as a first year. How large and ill kept his clothing was and the scared but defiant look in his eyes, also the fact that he never traveled home for the holidays. He should have remembered that he had lost his parents and had no one to reach out to for memories of them. He had been blinded to so many things and he had realized not only how much he needed to correct but also how much his hands were tied while continuing to work for Dumbledore and this new prophecy. 

 

Leaning against the doorframe, looking at the rumpled and aching man curled into the middle of the bed he realized that there were a few things that he could correct now and hopefully offer some comfort to the man before him, while easing the ache within himself. He hoped that between the two of them that they may be able to fix some of the damage that he had wrought without alerting the Headmaster to his new knowledge.

Almost silently Severus walked over to the side of the bed that Remus was facing out towards and dropped quietly to his knees on the floor next to him. His eyes took in the paleness of his skin that almost put himself to shame as well as the furrow between his brows that indicated he was not in a restful state. He also saw his hands curled up close to his chest seemingly holding in some pain and he knew that he had to help. The time that he had, had to take to come to terms with his past and future was needed but he regretted not anticipating the pain that he had left Remus in on top of his transformation.

He reached across the side of the bed and brushed Remus’s sandy hair from in front of his eyes and as he did so, those soft green eyes opened and gave him a weary look. Severus could see the slight amber of the newly sleeping wolf as well as the continued pain there, not only the pain he had suffered as the wolf but also the worry that Severus would reject the vision that they had both seen. It was something that had weighed on his mind the entire time he had been separated from him.

 

“I’m not a nice person Remus.”

“You are not an evil person Severus.”

“I’ve done some truly despicable things over the years and treated people very badly.”

“I’m not positive that I can change Remus, but I will try with you, for him and the promise that I made to them.”

“I’m sorry that I left you with this pain Remus.” Said Severus now looking down and his hands clasped in front of him, afraid to look into his eyes.

“Severus, I’m in pain every month this is nothing new.” answered Remus quietly “Unless you are a secret Animagus there is nothing that you could have done.”

“You didn’t need to be in as much pain as you were in though. Huffed Severus. “I should have remembered what Lily and James told me before. What happened to them when they first initiated their bond.”

“I don’t understand Severus.”

“The pain you feel, just there.” Said Severus pointing to Remus’ chest, stopping just short of touching him.”

“I’ve had it for about a week, I thought it was just all of the stress that I had been through over the last month and maybe the beginning of a chest cold.”

“It’s not a chest cold Lupin, nor is it stress.” Explained Severus. “It is because we initiated the bond, but haven’t sealed it.”

“I didn’t think that you were ready to jump into anything like that.” Replied Remus with a slight blush

“Not that.” Replied Severus with a slight blush of his own. Merlin he felt like a fifteen year old again trying to ask out his first witch.

“The initiation of the bond was the touch of our hands and the first seal is initiated with… with a kiss. Once it is sealed, the ache in our chests should go away.”

“Oh.” Replied Remus quietly “just a kiss then, not a full on snog”, he chuckled a bit “Because as appealing as it sounds, I don’t think that I’m quite up for that.”

“I could go get a pain potion first and we could reevaluate that.” Said Snape with a bit of smirk and a raised eyebrow.

“Um….sure”replied Remus with a bit of a glazed look to his eyes, unsure about the changes in Severus. “Are you sure that you’re Severus Snape?” He asked with a tilt of his head and a small smile on his face.

Looking at Remus with a bit of a smirk about his lips, Severus reached over and grabbed his hand and once again they were both assaulted with the vision of their bond and a possible future for them and a woman. It may be a woman they both knew or maybe someone that they had never met. 

“Are you still in doubt?”

“No, no… no.. doubts here.” Sputtered Remus with a bit of a sheepish smile.

Slowly and looking straight into those green eyes with flecks of amber in them, the eyes of part of his possible future, Severus Snape leaned forward and slid his hand around to the back of Remus’s neck and applied the softest of kisses to his lips.


	16. A Brighter Day

Bound to You

A Brighter Day

 

Chapter 15

Morning of July 23rd, 1994  
Crawley  
HG  
Hermione Granger woke for the first time in almost a week feeling better than she had in the last year. She had been suffering for the last week with chest pain and weakness and even after visiting the hospital and having numerous tests done to find the cause of the pain there were no answers forthcoming. Feeling as poorly as she had been, a trip to Diagon Alley was out of the question. As a last resort she had roused herself from bed and brewed herself a general pain potion. Without an owl handy and not knowing where the local wizarding hospital might be she decided to just take a chance and cross her fingers hoping that it would work and that the pain would go away. Honestly, you would think that directions to the wizarding hospital would have been included in the muggleborn welcome package, among other things.

Rolling over and sitting up to lean against her headboard, she pushed her curls out of her face and looked over as her bedroom door quietly opened.

“Good Morning Miss Mono, how are you feeling this morning? You look much better than yesterday.” Called her mother jovially.  
“Mum! Ms. Mono? Really? That is what you’ve come up with? Besides you had the doctor’s test me for that, they said it wasn’t that.”

“Come darling you can tell mummy who you’ve been kissing. Is it that Ronald boy? Or maybe your friend Harry? Or was it Neville? Those quiet ones are the ones to watch out for.”

“Mum, I haven’t been kissing anyone. I have a better chance of catching Dragon Pox than getting a kiss or a kissing illness. I don’t even think that anyone at the school knows that I’m female.”

“Sweetheart, I’m sure that’s not true. You are a lovely young woman..” crooned her mother.

“Mum, I am a bushy haired, big toothed, Know it All swot to most of the school, including several teachers and for those not of that opinion, I am a muggleborn witch whom isn’t worthy of her magic.” Huffed Hermione staring down at her fingers twisted in her lap.

“Truly Hermione, that’s what you think that they think of you? Maybe we should consider Madame Gregston’s offer for you to attend school here in England and forget about Hogwarts?”

“I can’t give up on my magic mum and I refuse to just because there are some small minded people out there. I won’t let them drive me off.” Hermione stated determinately. 

She hadn’t meant to let that bit come out about the opinions of the Slytherin and a few others. She tried her hardest not to keep things from her family and had recently come clean about Harry’s Godfather being a wrongly accused escaped convict, about her trying to save Buckbeak through legal means as well as her Werewolf Defense teacher. The last one they were skeptical about and her knowledge of the others confounded them a bit, but she had not disclosed trying to save said Godfather or coming face to snout with a changed professor. There were possibly some things that may keep her from returning to school due to the fact that her parents paid for her education. She knew that it was a lie by omission but it was also her only guarantee that she would return to school on September 1st. 

 

“Maybe darling your werewolf professor shared something during the course of the year? Is there something that he might have inflicted upon you?” Her mother asked with a bit of a grin, still not quite believing that her daughter’s school would employ a magical creature such as a werewolf.

“Mother! The only thing that professor Lupin might have shared with me is a wealth of knowledge, a cup of tea and maybe a pat on the head. He is only contagious once a month and only if he was to bite you.”

“Hermione, how did you know that your professor was a Werewolf?” Her mother asked a bit more seriously.

“My potion’s professor had set an assignment for the Defense class that he was covering for Professor Lupin. He wanted several feet of parchment on werewolves and how to identify them. I put together his symptoms and where they fell on the lunar calendar.”

“That seems a bit of a bold and mean move on one teacher to another dear, I’m sure it wasn’t meant to be common knowledge that your Professor Lupin had this affliction or else you would have been told about it.” Her mother acknowledged.

“I am unsure of the motive behind Professor Snape’s assignment, I know that the class had begun with students questioning the whereabouts of Professor Lupin as well as the change in curriculum and it felt like there may have been some hard feelings between the two teachers, they are of the same age, but I can’t be certain.” Explained Hermione quietly

“Well it seems a bit unprofessional in my opinion darling but if what you say is true, maybe they did grow up together and there are feelings there. For them being a werewolf and how did your friend Ronald refer to the other one… as the Dungeon Bat? Are they adequate professors?”

“Oh mum, they are fantastic professors. “Gushed Hermione. Professor Lupin was ever so kind explaining differences in the magical and muggle worlds to me this year, which was something that I wish, had been addressed before and even if Professor Snape is a bit harsh with his students, they don’t understand how dangerous it is have 20 students trying to make the same potion with sometimes volatile ingredients. He has to be on his toes and he expects everyone to behave and to pay attention in class.”

“Do I sense a bit of a crush Hermione on these professors? I remember you going on about Professor Lockhart last year with such eloquent praise about his smile and his eyes and hair.” asked her mother, smiling indulgently at her.

With this question Hermione shut down a bit. She didn’t want to say how embarrassed she was over her apparent fascination with Professor Lockhart, if you could even call that charlatan a professor. The only thing that she was glad about that whole experience was that she was not the only witch taken in by that fool. She still wondered today if he had cast a charm upon his person to get the attention that he did. At least Karma took care of him in the end. For all of the past obliviations that he had performed, his last one backfired on him and left him completely loopy.

“Mum, that crush was one of the most embarrassing things about my second year. I hesitate to even call him a professor after we learned his true propensity for fiction. All of those books that we were required to purchase last year for his class belong in the rubbish bin and if the very thought of burning a book didn’t make my heart shrivel a bit they would be thrown in the fire.”

“But he was a professor dear and if this is about your crush not being acknowledged…” began her mother hesitantly.

“That has absolutely nothing to do with my feelings towards his teachings, if anything it taught me not to be taken in by a pretty face. Flaws and scars tell more truths than a pretty smile and twinkling eyes.”

With that Hermione decided a change in subject was needed as she climbed out of bed and started pawing through her dresser for something appropriate to wear for that day.

“Darling are you sure that you should be up and about today? You’ve been in such pain for the last week.”

“I feel great today mom, better than I have in a while and I know that the time off that you set for yourself is coming to an end. Do you want to do something before you have to go back? Shopping, lounging by the pool, manicure and pedicure?”  
“Is there something that you need to do Hermione? I don’t feel comfortable leaving you home while I am at work, looking for something to do. We could go to the library, the stationary store for you to stock up, go rent some videos….”

“Actually now that you mention it mum, I do have something that I need to do. It’s a bit of a wonky request but don’t be mad or weirded out over it because it’s just a friend helping a friend thing.” Hermione tried to explain.

“What is it poppet? I’m sure it will be fine.” Assured her mother

“I need to go shopping for a few things. I need to go to a store that sells young men’s items.”

“Why would you need to do that darling?”

“Because Harry Potter needs new socks, vests and pants for the new school year and has no way to go shopping for them himself.” She said with a huff smirking at her mother’s shocked face.


	17. Friends and New Loves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your Kind Words, Subscribes and Kudos. It truly means a lot to me.
> 
> We need to move forward and get through the rest of the summer. There is a huge Quidditch match to get to and of course the Quad Wizard Tournament.
> 
> Disclosure: I obviously do not own the original story; I do however appreciate the chance to play with it.

Bound to You  
Chapter 16

HGHGHGHGHGHG

The next month flew by as Hermione continued getting ready for the new school term, as well as spending as much time as she could with her parents. She completed her shopping for Harry, looking for sales on trousers, trainers, pajamas and a few jumpers as well as the prerequisite knickers, socks and vests. Surprisingly the exchange rate for galleons to pounds was very good.

She continued writing to her friends, sharing a few of her summer experiences as well as reminding them about their summer homework. She of course asked after their holidays and as usual received the bare minimum in responses. She knew that Harry did not have the best of a home life and didn’t expect a glowing letter, so the shortness didn’t surprise her. She had hoped that he might have felt comfortable enough that if he needed to vent, that he knew that she would listen, but as usual he was keeping things to himself. 

Ron however had no problem venting and complained mightily about the injustice of having to clean and de-gnome the garden. He complained about having to share a room with the twins as his oldest brothers were returning for a visit shortly. He had also mentioned possibly going to the Quidditch World Cup at the end of the summer, but was unsure if they would be able to get tickets. Surprisingly he invited her if his father came through with the tickets.

In addition to writing her friends, she had gained a new pen pal. Maybe he was a bit older than her friends, more of a mentor really and definitely more intellectual. Professor Remus J. Lupin had kept his promise to write to her over the summer and answer any questions that she might have concerning the magical world.

 

 

Dear Professor Lupin,  
Thank you ever so much for agreeing to write to me. I know that this is probably an unusual occurrence, but it really means a lot to me to have someone so knowledgeable about magic and the wizarding world. I must confess the last few years I have felt like I was playing catch up against every other person at Hogwarts.

I wanted to thank you as well for letting me know about Le Petit Marais. It is a truly magical place and I enjoyed several wonderful hours wondering the streets and finding so many interesting things. I visited the loveliest book shop (of course) and I enjoyed a scrumptious croissant and cup of tea, before attacking the stacks and stocking up on the most amazing books. I purchased a copy of “Bow Truckles, Banshees and Bogarts, Your guide to the magical creatures of the world”. I fancied having a book to study for Care of Magical Creatures that didn’t try to bite me every time that I opened it. I also purchased “Earth, Air, Water and Fire, Your Guide to Elemental Magic”, “Healing charms for the Teenage Witch” and “ Runes, Rhymes and Reunifications”, along with a fair few other books. I really appreciate your recommendations.

I enjoyed my time in France, visiting my grandparents, reading on the beach and meeting new people. The cuisine was divine and spending time with family, after so many months away was much needed. I just wish that Harry could have come with me.

The only unfortunate part of this summer that I can mention is that I was ill for about a week. I thought that it was a return of the tiredness that I had experienced from over working this past year, however even with as much traveling as I did this holiday, I was more relaxed than I have been in the longest time, I still ended up at hospital due to this tiredness and achiness and even running tests, the doctors were unable to determine what was wrong. I came home and brewed a pain potion and went to bed and woke up feeling much improved. I was wondering though, is there a wizarding hospital fairly close to Cornwall and how would one go about getting there? Would my parents be able to bring me if the need arose?

 

Well as I have let you know of my holidays, it is only right that you let me know of yours. I hope that it has been productive and that you are enjoying catching up with old friends. 

I am very sorry that you left your position at Hogwarts sir. You truly are one of the best professors that I have encountered and I will miss learning from you. Thank you again for agreeing to write to me and sharing your wealth of knowledge.

Sincerely,  
Hermione J. Granger

 

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Remus and Severus in the meantime were taking their time getting to know each other as much as they could before the new term started and Severus had to go back to work being the feared Potions Professor. Sure they had gone to school together for 7 years and spent the last year as colleagues, but there was still so much to learn about each other as well as the blessing that bound them together.

The morning after the full moon was a big turning point for them. The first kiss had eased the aches in their chests, the second and third had introduced them to each other in a new and exciting way. The kisses had remained gentle, allowing for the aches and pains that Remus was still experiencing, the reservation that Severus still felt and the newness of it all. 

After catching their breaths, Severus got to his feet and took several potion bottles from his jacket, walked to the lavatory returning with a wet flannel and a bowl of warm water. Indicating that he should move over, Severus sat on the side of the bed and went to wipe down Remus’s face. As he reached for him, Remus gripped his arm and said to him. “You don’t have to nurse me Severus; I was just too tired and sore to take care of it at the time.”

 

Looking at him and flushing slightly he gently pulled his arm from Remus’s hand and continued with the movement of cleaning the scratches on his face. “I want to do this for you; I need to do this for you. It’s not a compulsion. I always blamed you in some way for what Black had done back in sixth year and I saw you as a monster. I never tried to separate you from the wolves’ or from Black’s actions and kept up the animosity the remaining part of our school years as well as this past year and I recently had to examine those feelings. I needed to see it from your side and after seeing you transform and the pain you experienced, knowing you experienced that every month since childhood. I realized just how strong of a person you are.” Dipping the flannel back into the basin that he had poured several healing potions into, he rung it out and reached out and followed the scratches once again across his forehead and down his jaw. There were a few on his arms and one across the top of his hand. There was quite a deep one on his chest, over his heart and again he felt pained that he hadn’t seen him sooner to ease that ache.

While Severus was patching him up Remus lay there tiredly and studied him. He had never seen so many emotions cross his face as he did while he was tending to him. He had always been such a private person, more so during their school years and afterwards his only emotion had been disdain. He saw the slight blush to his face and thought it charming; he noticed his casual clothes and his patient hands and relaxed further.

“Remus, you need to take this potion, it will help ease the aches in your bones.” Said Severus looking up and catching Remus watching him with a relaxed look upon his face.

With a small smile he said, “You are making me sound old Severus, with the ache in my bones. If I’m not mistaken, you are older than me.”

“By two whole months,” he replied while Remus who had quaffed the potion handed to him was pleased that Severus knew when his birthday was.

“Ready for round two?” asked Remus with a waggle of his eyebrows thinking how much he would like to slide his fingers through Severus’s shiny raven hair and sink his teeth into that bottom lip of his.

  

Smiling slightly, with a bit of his signature smirk he leaned towards Remus, looking into his eyes where a bit of the wolf could still be seen in their amber color. “I’m up for round two” he drawled in the deep baritone of his. “ But I don’t think that you will be.” Leaning forward, he rubbed the side of his nose along Remus’s cheek and pressed soft kisses along his jaw and up to his lips that were pouting as he realized that the pain potion also had a mild sleep potion in it. “We have a bit of time, to talk some more about this” Severus stated biting Remus’s lip lightly. “To get to know each other better” giving him a lingering kiss “And to snog each other senseless. You need to rest Wolf.”


	18. Getting to Know You

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“You weren’t involved with Black were you?” asked Severus as they sat at a table outside of a Muggle London café.

Raising an eyebrow while looking at the dour man, Remus gave an innocent look “Worried about poaching Severus?”

“Just wondering if I have to kill him for your affection.” He remarked in a deadpan voice. His face was perfectly emotionless with the exception of his eyes that seemed to flash with fire.

“No, I wasn’t involved with Sirius, Severus. Never have been.” He replied truthfully

“And never will be.” Muttered Snape looking faintly relieved.

“And never will be.” Echoed Remus pleased at the possessiveness he had caught in Severus’ tone.

“And you and Keegan? Was there something going on between the two of you?” Asked Remus mentioning the mind healer that he had been introduced to recently after Sirius and Severus’s mutual breakdowns.

“Not for a really long time, we were together for a while whilst I was earning my Mastery. He was my first relationship outside of Hogwarts.”  
“What happened?”

“He was able to handle my snark and temper as a friend but not as a lover.” Severus explained, looking down at his cup of tea, rather than into the eyes of Remus. “I wasn’t in a very good place when I left Hogwarts. I had lost my best friend, my mother, joined The Dark Lord, was still recovering from seven years with the Marauders and of course Albus Dumbledore.”

“Severus…”started Remus

“Stop.” growled Snape fiercely holding up his hand. “It’s over; it has been for over fourteen years.” Seeing how uncomfortable Remus still was Severus grabbed his hand and held it tightly. “If anything loving James and Lily taught me extremely well, is that life is too fucking short to keep hashing over old history. It is over and done with and now we have this unbelievable opportunity to build this relationship anew; to learn everything that we can about each other whilst we are waiting for our third to present herself. I am not going to throw away this chance when I lost so much the last time.”

Even just a few short weeks into their relationship, Remus was relieved to see how passionate Severus was about their bond.

Drinking their tea and just enjoying being outside of magical London was relaxing for the two men. They were far enough away from Diagon Alley but still hidden in the shadows of the café to not worry about being seen by one of Severus’s or Remus’s former schoolmates or students. Thinking of former school mates and his long time best friend Remus had to ask.

“Can Keegan be trusted?” he questioned Severus 

“As much as I have always despised Black, I wouldn’t have sent him to Keegan unless I trusted him implicitly. There is too much going on with that mutt, with Harry and with us not to get Black under control of his facilities. We can’t trust Black without him seeing a mind healer after being in Azkaban for so many years and I will not trust him with Harry unless he can protect him from Albus.”

“So he is Harry now instead of Potter?” questioned Remus quietly remembering how much Severus would Snarl Harry’s last name when referring to him.  
“He should have always been Harry, Remus and for the last fourteen years, if not for the interfering of that old bastard, he should have been my son.” Replied Severus in a tight voice visibly upset but trying to control himself.  
Seeing how upset Severus appeared and the clenching of his jaw and fist, Remus squeezed his hand firmly trying to bring him back to the present.

A bit more subdued he asked “Have you heard from him at all this summer?”

“No… I don’t think that he wants to speak to me”. Remus replied quietly with a bit of the sadness that he was feeling, bleeding through his voice. “The owls that I have sent have returned to me with the letters still attached and I haven’t received any from him. I know that he was upset at the end of term with my leaving, but I thought for sure that he would be ok writing every once in a while, if only to learn more about his parents and Sirius.”

“That doesn’t sound right. I could see how much he enjoyed talking to you. Every time that I came across the two of you, especially when he thought that I was trying to poison you with the Wolfs- bane. He looked protective of you. I would think that he would be looking for any connection to his parents that you could provide, especially if our worries are confirmed and he is living with Petunia and her family. She despised Lily and James. I don’t know what that bastard was thinking leaving that boy with her.”  
Another thought came to mind causing Severus to look up at Remus with a pondering look upon his face. “You know, maybe someone or something is blocking your mail to and from Harry. Are you still in touch with your pen friend Ms. Granger?”

Exasperated, Remus replied. “We’ve written several times.”

“Maybe she wouldn’t be averse to delivering a letter for you.”

“How do I go about that without voicing our suspicions?”

“I’m sure that you’ll be able to convey the concern without revealing the reason behind it.” Severus replied the light coming back to his eyes.

“She is the smartest witch of her age Severus, she will catch on.”

“Undoubtedly and she will question.” Replied Snape.

“Is there a reason that you are anticipating her questioning?” Asked Remus looking confused but thinking that he might have stumbled upon the answer. “Is this another Werewolf assignment?”

“Remus, since that little witchling has started at Hogwarts, she has been attacked by a Troll, guided Harry through the laughable protections of the Sorcerer’s’ Stone, including my potion’s logic puzzle. She figured out that there was a Basilisk in the school and was petrified by it and was handed a time turner as a third year witch in training with which if I’m not mistaken directions to save your best friend and Hagrid’s bloody Hippogriff.”

“If Dumbledore doesn’t have some sort of plan for her, I will eat one of his ugly hats.”

“She is a child Severus, well a young lady, while an extremely smart and intensely loyal friend to Harry, what type of plans could he have for her? And why her?”

“I don’t know what his plans are Remus, but when I regained my memories of James and Lily, I also regained some memories of her that made no sense as to why those would be missing.”

“What types of memories?” asked Remus aware of Severus attitude towards his students, particularly friends of Harry Potter.

“She brewed Polyjuice potion as a second year. While her transformation was flawed by the type of hair that she used, she was smug enough while I berated her, for me to know that the other two transformations that she provided the potion for were successful.”

“Harry and Mr. Weasley?”

“Exactly! As a second year student she brewed a perfect Polyjuice potion in an abandoned girl’s bathroom. A potion that most sixth years fail to master.” Explained Severus a bit more animatedly.

 

“I had offered to sort of mentor her, along with Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott. They were the brightest in their year in potions; although with the successful creation of that potion she was far surpassing them… I was hoping to bridge the gap between houses as well as the blood prejudice, but I also thought that they would provide her with friends that spoke of more than Quiditch and food and that wouldn’t depend on her for help with their homework.”

“He must have Obliviated us both because I don’t recall her presenting herself for extra classes and I didn’t even remember treating her for her error in transforming.” He said a bit more reservedly, the crease returning between his prominent brows. He was coming to the realization that the situation with Dumbledore was far from over if he was willing to obliviate children.

“She never recovered?” Asked Remus concerned about his young friend and they were becoming friends, regardless of the difference in their ages. Both of them being a bit socially inept with their peers and far more interested in books and knowledge than the sport of the masses. They had become at the very least pen friends.

“Of course she recovered.” A smirking Snape replied. “You haven’t seen her as a huge anamorphic cat, spitting up hairballs have you?”

“A cat! She turned herself into a cat?” repeated Remus incredulously

“Ears, tail and whiskers.” Replied Severus with a tiny bit of a grin on his face and a twinkle in his eyes. “She had a very rough second year.”


	19. Bumbling Baboons and Arses off Brooms

Bound To You

Chapter 18

 

HGHGHGHGHGHGHG

August began auspiciously for Hermione. She spent time with her parents, began her school work for her muggle schooling and wrote letters faithfully to her grandparents, friends and Professor Lupin. Her correspondence most appreciated by her grandparents and the former professor.

She learned of her grandparent’s fondness for the sea and how they had met years before on a cruise ship that their families had traveled on while on holiday. While the ships were not as grand as the ones that were available currently, they seemed to hold more of a mysterious and romantic air about them then, than the great glaring cities of the seas that were floating about now.

She learned more about how they knew, when they first kissed that they were meant to be and they firmly believed that they were soul mates. They traveled far and wide when they were first married while her grandfather was in the military of France but they were always drawn back to the sea. This prompted them to purchase their beautiful seaside retreat in their golden years, which kept them close to the seas that brought them together so many years ago. 

They hoped that knowing this, in some small way would assist her in getting past the unfortunate incident that occurred nearby this past holiday and that she would once again enjoy spending time with her parents and grandparents there, or in the future with her own family. 

Not wanting to commit to future visits to their seaside cottage in the South of France, even though up until recently it had been one of her most favorite locations to vacation in, she promised her Grand’Mere and Grand Pere that she would think upon it while at school this term. It was still a lovely place, full of wonderful memories of her childhood and she knew that her parents and grandparents enjoyed their yearly visits.

Her letters from her friends remained sparse. Harry remarked upon his cousin’s diet and an urgent need for food of any variety which prompted another visit to Diagon Alley, this time upon the Knight Bus while her parents were working. 

She was caught up with imaginings of de-gnoming the garden at “The Burrow” which was the Weasley kids’ ramshackle home, by Ron and tales of the return of his brothers Charlie and Bill for a long overdue visit and some other mysterious reason. The underlying excitement of the possibility of attending the Quidditch World Cup at the end of August seemed to prevail upon his glad tidings.

Her correspondence from Professor Lupin or “Remus” as he now allowed and encouraged her to use his given name as he was no longer her professor, was filled with answers to her numerous questions, little antidotes from when he was a student of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as well as additional information on Wizarding society. Being a half blood himself, he grew up attending parties that his father was invited to, prior to having to register as a werewolf, as well as spending time with Sirius, James and the traitor Peter.

 

What she found confusing however was the request that he made of her. His carefully worded request for her to deliver a letter to Harry as he had tried upon several occasions to remain in contact with his former student, honorary nephew and son of two of his best friends seemed a mystery for her to solve. He admitted regretfully that he had not received any communications from the teen even after letting him know that he would happily answer any questions that he might have about his parents.  
Words failed her at first as Hermione knew how much Harry had enjoyed spending time with Remus the previous term as well as learning more about his parents from him. The fact that he had been communicating with her and Ron and not with Remus disturbed her greatly.

It was with a wondering mind that she determined that there must be an issue as to why he had been receiving mail from her and Ron and not from Remus. It certainly explained why he seemed a bit more melancholy in his letters to her. She was sure that he had mentioned in at least one of them, reaching out to his professor for additional information of his parents and the lack of response from the werewolf.

Knowing that this was not the first time that Harry had mail go missing, but determining that it was probably not for the same reason as before. She readily agreed to deliver the letters as well as intercede on Harry’s mail to the older wizard.

Confident that she had found a temporary solution to this dilemma, she completed her letters and called to the owl that she had rented from Eyelops Owl Emporium, haven’t not been told prior to her regular correspondence with Remus that this could be done for a fee. Hello, just a muggleborn witch here. Something else, to add to the ever growing list of things that she had not been told prior to entering the boarding school.  
She had several theories as to why Harry’s mail had not been getting through and she was just waiting on a return letter from Remus, along with a letter from Harry, to test them out.

 

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August continued to pass quickly for the newest couple in wizarding London. With having to brew potions for the school as well as his favorite werewolf’s Wolfsbane potion to work around, his lesson plans and staff meetings, left very little time for Remus and Severus to get together. They tried to spend as much time as they could getting to know one another, their likes and dislikes, wishes and dreams, while becoming more intimately involved with each other.

“That fucking, bloody interfering bastard!” yelled Severus with a slam of the door as he strode through “The Den”, stripping off his robe and throwing it over one of the chairs in Remus’s home was proof of his agitation as he was normally fastidiously neat. His hair was mussed and a bit windswept and his normally sallow skin was ruddy in comparison. If smoke could have come out of his ears at this point, it would have summed up his displeasure better.

“And hello to you.” said Remus, taking in the image of his love storming through his house.

“Ah piss off.” snarled Severus moodily sinking back into his Manchester accent while stalking across the room to the liquor cabinet in the corner and grabbing the bottle of Firewhiskey. They had opened the bottle recently on a night that they spent getting to know each other and speculating about their third.

Unscrewing the top and taking a swift drink from the mouth of the bottle, Severus let his head fall back and let out a loud growl. Hearing the sound coming from the one meant for him made Moony perk up a bit, changing the color of Remus’s eyes to more of an amber color.

Trying to control his inner beast Remus walked over to Severus as he watched him take another drink of the potent liquor and took the bottle from his hand, taking his own swig and placing the bottle down on the table next to them. Taking Severus’s face in his hands, he brought his forehead closer to his own and allowed him to rest a bit on him while he calmed down.

“What has the old man done this time luv?” asked Remus, feeling Severus begin to tense up again, he slid his nose along the side of his face, giving tiny kisses as he passed his eyes, nose and finally centering on his lips, pulling his lower lip between his teeth.

 

A bit of a snarl this time had Severus pulling away from Remus and pulling his fingers through his hair and gnashing his teeth together.

The delightful sounds coming from his mate had Moony standing at attention while watching Severus pacing back and forth, all the while wanting to push him up against the wall and shag him six ways to Sunday.

“The old man is trying to kill me, trying to give Minerva and me, fuck, all of us professors a heart attack, premature gray hair or a stroke. I don’t know what will do us in first.”  
“I think that you had better explain.” questioned Remus

“He and that bumbling baboon Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge have decided to bring back the Triwizard Tournament to Hogwarts.” Severus seethed in reply, the scowl on his face looking to become a permanent fixture on his face once again.

“Why the bloody hell would he do that?” growled Remus, remembering stories of how dangerous the tournament had been and the reason it hadn’t been reinstated in over 300 years.

“For the morale of the Wizarding World, and the anniversary of the defeat of Voldemort.” Replied Snape who continued pacing and eyeing the bottle of firewhiskey that Remus had taken off of him.  
Remus witnessed Severus eyeing up the bottle and grabbed it off the table before pulling another mouthful for himself. 

Sitting on the couch beside the end table, he patted the seat beside him, indicating that Severus should also sit down.

With a huff Snape let himself drop beside Remus on the couch where he sprawled a bit inelegantly, figuring if Remus were in it for the long run, he could bloody well see that he wasn’t always a smooth talking, pin straight Slytherin.

Smiling a bit at the pout on Severus’s face, he handed over the bottle to allow him one more pull of the potent liquor considering the news he had been delivered.

Taking another drink, he eyed the bottle and the amount that was left in it before handing it back to Remus. Leaning his head back against the couch he took to rubbing the area between his eyes and let out a long sigh. “You know that someway, somehow Harry will be dragged into this.”

“But how?” Questioned Remus “I am assuming that there will be an age limit for the entrants.” 

“So Albus claims.” Replied Severus “But he has claimed many things over the last 15 years, what is one more lie for him and his Greater Good? And if it is not the age issue that stops Harry from entering the tournament, or being entered, something else will insure that he is one of the competitors or is involved in some way.

“So we’ll be there for him. You will be there at school and I will be trying to help Padfoot get back on his feet so that he can get custody of him, at least for the time being to get him away from that awful muggle family of his.”

“Your Kia came through with the information then?”

“Why must you insist on calling her my Kia?”

“You like her right?”

“She was a former student and very intelligent, she has a very refreshing view on the wizarding world that she has been thrust into.”

“So, she asks just as many questions of you by post as she did in class?”

“Well yes, but they are more varied and for someone not brought up in this life style, they make perfect sense. It is rather odd that her friends haven’t addressed these questions of hers.”  
“And the wolf seems to like her; he didn’t try and take a bite you said.”

“No, I think he wanted to take a bite out of Weasley and maybe a nibble out of Harry.”

“Potter?” Questioned Severus,” I thought that you thought of him as a pup, why would the wolf want to take a bite out of him? I can understand Mr. Weasley, but why Harry?”

“He made her cry over the broom that Sirius sent to him anonymously, which she apologized for even though she shouldn’t have because he should have used his brain over that. And he doesn’t defend her when Weasley gets on her case. The troll incident, where she was trapped in the bathroom, was because she was crying over his bullying and calling her a nightmare.” Explained Remus.

“I knew she was lying about that.” Confirmed Severus” So as I was saying, your Kia was able to confirm that Potter is staying with Petunia.”

“She reluctantly confirmed it and kind of let it slip that she sent him food, because his cousin is currently on a diet and there is nothing more satisfying than feeding Harry less then Dudders or Dudley, I can’t recall what the boy’s’ name is.”

“Bloody hell, like that child needs to lose any weight. A bloody breeze could sweep his arse off of his broom.”

Standing up, Severus began pacing again and rubbing the area between his eyes. Watching him and trying unsuccessfully to calm his wolf’s response to the look of Severus stalking across the room, Remus stands up and herds him up against the wall.

Startled out of his revere he looked up at Remus and saw the bits of amber in his eyes and the look of lust on the man’s face.

“Remus?” questioned Severus taking in a deep breath of air and unconsciously licking his lips.

“Yes dear.” Replied Remus in a bit of a gravelly voice, looking intently now at Severus moistened lips.

Leaning forward, he brushed his cheek against Severus’s and whispered in his ear. “That’s enough talk about the pup and my Kia.” He said with a bit of a chuckle. “You need to relax a little luv. Let me take your mind off of things for just a little while luv. Let me take care of you dear.” Growled Remus before taking Severus’s ear between his teeth and biting down slightly before licking it. Feeling incredibly confident hearing Severus’s breath catch, he grabbed him by his hips and pulled him closer before capturing his thin lips in a searing kiss.


	20. Dog Training

Bound To You

Chapter 19

 

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Snogging Severus Snape was quite an experience for Remus Lupin. Without all of the extra layers, he was quite angular against his own slim build. His hair, which the children of Hogwarts referred to as greasy, was beautiful when clean and free of the buildup that occurred from spending time in the dungeons while on average sixteen children at a time could be brewing steaming cauldrons of potions. It felt divine against his fingertips as he slid his hand up Severus’s neck and rubbed his scalp whilst he deepened the kiss, sucking Severus’s tongue into his mouth and using his other hand on his hip to draw him closer to his body and the evidence of his desire.

 

These snogging sessions had been happening with more frequency as of late and there was no question that they found the other attractive and that they enjoyed themselves immensely, however in the beginning Remus found himself unsure of their connection, his wolf’s response to Severus (He smelled good and he was a great kisser) and comparing himself and their relationship to his relationship with James and Lily Potter. He knew that realistically there was no chance of anything or anyone reigniting the spark and flames of that long lost bond, but Remus had never been a very confident Wizard with his furry little problem always at the back and forefront of his mind. Not that it had stopped him in the least from attacking his lovers’ lips. With the formation of this bond though certain insecurities seemed to bleed through and drew Severus’ lips away from his. 

Looking at Remus questioningly, he asked him softly “What’s the matter?” 

 

“Nothing” replied Remus, staring at Severus’s lips and wanting to capture them again.

 

Moving back a bit Severus tilted Remus’s face up to look him in his eyes. “I can feel your trepidation, what has caused this? Are you uncertain of your feelings? Have you changed your mind?”

Startled, Remus met Severus’s gaze, looking down into his obsidian eyes before stating. “I have never been more certain of my feelings before Severus.”

“Then the wolf, does he have issue with this? With me?”

“Do you have a problem with the wolf?”

“Would I be here, in this position if I had a problem with the wolf Remus? I know that you try and separate the two of you, but I alsoknow that he is a part of you, every time that you look at me with your lustful thoughts, a bit of the wolf bleeds through your beautiful eyes, the green bleeding through with gold.” Understanding now a bit where those feelings were coming from. Severus drew Remus’s face down closer to his and staring into his eyes watching them begin to bleed gold, he softly kissed his lips and shifted closer to him once again and slid his tongue along Remus’s bottom lip in a request for entry. Taking it slow, he slowly rubbed his hips against his lovers and showed him exactly how much he wanted to be exactly where he was.

 

Remus and his wolf decided that they preferred to take control and once again gripped Severus by the hips and leaned into the kiss, deepening it and giving into their urge to devour him. Sharp, tiny bites at Severus’s lips, along his chin and down his neck. Needing to feel closer to him, he began the process of unbuttoning his vest and the long narrow row of buttons beneath on his white dress shirt. Seeing the flush of arousal climbing Severus’s pale chest and hearing the catch in his throat spurned him on as he ran his long fingers through the light patch of hair on his chest and down his stomach to the buckle of his belt where his trail of hair disappeared. 

 

Unprepared to just stand idle while Remus began undressing him, he grabbed onto the wolf’s shoulders and ran his hands up his neck and into the long hair when the kisses became more forceful and arousing. He ran his hands back down his arms to his stomach and proceed to start pulling the t-shirt that Remus was wearing from the waist band of his pants and reaching under where he lightly ran his fingers over the skin of his back, mindful of the scars. When he felt Remus stiffen at first at his touch, he became concerned that maybe this wasn’t what the man was looking for, but when he ran his fingers over the hard stomach of the wolf and proceed to try and lift the shirt up his chest, he felt his breathing speed up and he removed his hands from Severus’ belt to aid him.

 

With both of their chests exposed they proceeded to come back together, holding each other tightly while they tried to dominate one another. Both needing to feel the contact of their flesh against the other and wanting to give into the temptation of dragging the clothes off of the other one so that they could complete the bond.  
While so distracted they were unaware that the floo had activated in the other room, until they heard the yell.

 

“WHAT THE BLOODY FUCKING HELL IS GOING ON HERE?”

 

Shocked by the sight of his best friend shirtless, wrapped around one almost shirtless Snape and snogging him, broke something in Sirius and thinking that his friend might be under the Imperious Curse, Sirius shot the first spell at Snape that he could think of which was “Stupify!” Severus held up his right hand and cast a non-verbal wandless shield which encompassed both he and Remus. Concern over the next spell that might come out of the dog’s mouth, Severus let his wand slide into his hand and yelled “Expelliarmus” and unarmed Sirius, with the next spell out his mouth “Stupify!” he saw Sirius fall to the floor with what sounded like a painful thud.

Stepping away from Remus and running his hand through the front of his hair to push it back out of his face, he looked down at Black lying on the floor at his feet.

“What the hell is his problem? Why must he always shoot first? Doesn’t he ever stop and think before he shoots off his mouth and his wand?”

Remus still a bit confounded with lust, stared blankly at Severus who was waiting for him to catch up to the situation in front of them.

“Remus, Black just shot spells at both of us, probably thinking that I had you under the Imperious Curse in order to have my wicked way with you.”

“I, .. I thought that he was ok with this, with us? Didn’t you speak with Keegan concerning this and his response to us?" Asked Remus, his mind slowly processing the fact that Sirius was once again stunned on the floor at his feet and that Severus was not amused by this.

“Yes I spoke with Keegan regarding any issues that the mutt would have with us, I also demanded a wizard’s oath that he would not share a word of it with anyone other than Keegan or the two of us, until I release him.” Severus stated staring down at the crumpled form of Black at his feet. Deciding to be the bigger wizard as he had stunned him, he levitated his body and placed him half-hazardly on the couch.

 

“I don’t understand why he would have behaved this way then?”

“Well there is no better time to find out then.” Replied Severus and turning to the fireplace behind him threw in floo powder. “Keegan’s Castle” he called.  
“Does he truly live in a castle?” Remus asked feeling a bit insecure

Feeling a bit of the insecurity bleeding through their bond, Severus replied gruffly. “No it is just a name that he adopted when he heard the phrase “A Man’s Home is his Castle.” He got a bit cheeky with it.”

“Keegan get your bloody arse over here. We have an issue with the mutt that you’ve been training.”

“Really Sev, that is a bit harsh.” Replied Remus with a smirk of his lips. Looking over at his best friend laying half on the couch and half off, he finished levitating him onto it all of the way. “With how often he’s been stunned recently, we are probably causing irrevocable damage to the man.”

“Like he wasn’t brain damaged before this…. “mumbled Severus under his breath.

“Keegan, get your arse out of bed, you lazy fuck.” Yelled Severus again, slipping into his mancurian accent once again.

“Maybe he stepped out..”

“If you think that I am paranoid, you’ve seen nothing, compared to me, Keegan is Mad Eye Moody paranoid in regards to his home and his wards.”

Seeing the fire flare green and watching Keegan walk through the fire, they noticed the dishevelment and irritation in the normally jovial man.

“What the bloody hell is so important that ye had to disturb me from the delightful little romp, that I be having you freaking tosser?” Asked Keegan, slipping more into the cadence of his Scottish accent.

Looking at the almost shirtless wizards before him brought a smirk to the Scottish man’s face.

“Severus luv, if you had told me you wanted to share this evening, I wouldn’t have made my own plans already. I’m so glad that you are improving your social niceties.”

“Shut your bloody gob Keegan.” huffed Severus while buttoning up his shirt, he slowly walked over to Remus and hearing the minor growl on his breath, he reached up to him and kissed him quickly before turning back to Keegan and wandlessly summoning Remus’s shirt to himself and tossing it to him.

Spotting Sirius semi-sliding off of the couch he turned to look at Severus again.

“You know stunning him should not be necessary. We talked about your relationship with Remus and he seemed perfectly ok with a developing relationship between the two of you.”

“Well then can you explain why the mutt came here and tried to stun me whilst I was snogging Remus? He looked a bit mad as he cast.”

“Have you bothered to wake him up and ask him? I swear if the boy keeps getting stunned, there will be something even more wrong with him.”

“Impossible, there could be nothing more wrong with the mutt then there already is.” muttered Severus.

“Enough”, yelled Remus getting a bit testier, the longer that he spent in Severus’s former lovers presence. “Enervate” he spelled, holding his wand on Sirius as he watched him slowly come out of the stupor of being stunned. 

“What the hell was that?” snarled Sirius sitting up and glaring around the room. Seeing Remus in his T-shirt and Severus buttoned up in his shirt sleeves, though without his vest done up and the evidence that nothing seemed wrong around him.

“You tell us mutt, why did you come in here firing hexes at me, while I was with Remus?” asked Severus, still holding his wand on the dark haired man.

“I.. I don’t…I don’t know that happened”, confessed Sirius confusedly. “ I knew that you and Moony were going to give a bit of a relationship a try, however when I caught the two of you snogging, the only thought running through my mind is that you had him under the imperius curse and I’ve known that Moony could throw off that curse for the last twenty years.”

“Have you seen or spoken to anyone besides the three of us since you escaped?” asked Remus, looking a bit worriedly at Keegan.

“Dumbledore, Albus summoned me, right after I completed my sessions with Keegan. I wanted to ask him some questions about Harry, about clearing my name so that I could gain custody of him. I don’t know what happened.” Said Sirius with a worried look on his face..

Keegan immediately walked over to Sirius and started scanning him with his wand. Looking at the diagnostic results, his face became more and more of a thunder cloud.   
“He’s been hit with numerous spells and hexes it seems, including a confundus charm and a nasty little compulsion charm keyed to you Severus.” There also seems to be a few other compulsions on him.”

 

“How did you let him get that close to you Padfoot? You know that we were having issues with things that he had done. Why didn’t you owl me? I would have gone with you.” Said Remus looking at Sirius tragically. 

“I know that we have questions, Merlin I have so many questions, beginning with how he let me rot in Azkaban for twelve years. I thought that appearing as not threatening as possible and appealing towards his sense of fairness, that I might be able to get some information out of him.” Said Sirius scratching his head.

“Instead we have now got to worry about him finding out about the second and third and fourth thoughts we have about him and his “Greater Good” growled Severus.

 

“He couldn’t have found out about the two of you, I kept my shields up the whole time I was with him and if my Wizards’ Oath had activated I would be either very incapacitated or dead.”

“You would be dead Black, make no mistake.” Snarled Severus

“Ok, Ok, can we please act like adults and work with this?” asked Keegan gruffly, knowing that his little Romp was all over for the night. I can deactivate these hexes once we identify them and then I will work with Sirius once again to work on his attention span and attention to details.”

“Awww, did you miss me already Keegan?” asked Sirius, batting his eyes at the healer.

“Like a stomachache Black.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok every one of my lovely followers and my new and future followers, reviewers and favoriters. (I’m Optimistic) lol Here is my newest chapter of my WIP Triad fan fiction. I thank you all for continuing to follow this slow burn story and for your patience of my updating schedule. You guys are awesome! I truly hope that you are continuing to enjoy my story and any and all feedback is welcome.
> 
> As ALWAYS, if you know the character and storyline, it is not mine. Anyone or any scenario that you don’t recognize is Obviously mine.


	21. Visitations and Revelations

RLHGRLHGRLHGRLHGRLHGRLHG

Remus took his time walking through the picturesque muggle neighborhood wishing that he had transfigured his clothing into a slightly more modern and professional outfit. Not that he looked terrible, wearing a pair of tan pants, a moss green dress shirt and a lightweight jacket, paired with oxfords. Severus had appreciated his efforts, but he hadn't realized that Hermione Granger lived in such an affluent neighborhood; she certainly did not act like a privileged girl. Well educated, yes. But not bloody rich. The times that they had spent together at Hogwarts, discussing magical theory as well as the letters that they had exchanged, gave no clue as to her background as she did not act like the purebloods would in her position. 

He was meeting her at her request in order to deliver a package to Harry from him, Severus and Sirius. It wasn't an extravagant gift by any means and of course, no one could know that Severus had contributed to the gift which was a belated birthday gift and Fourth-year gift from the three of them. However, they were all extremely proud of their contribution and hoped that he liked it.

 

He was also extremely curious as to what her theory was regarding the fact that Harry was still not receiving any letters from Remus but had received them from Sirius.

As he was turning the corner onto her street he saw a Mercedes pull into the long driveway of a home three houses from where he stood. As the car was parked he saw a petite young lady emerge from the passenger side of the car talking a mile a minute to the driver of the car. She was dressed in a blue and white paisley sleeveless dress and impossibly small white heels with a little white sweater tied around her shoulders. She carried a small white purse across her body and reached into the back seat and grabbed a satchel and threw it over her other shoulder. He noticed how carefree she seemed to talk to her mother that she seemed to favor greatly with her curly, slightly bushy chocolate brown hair with caramel highlights and upturned nose, but where her eyes were a chocolate brown with amber flecks in them, her mother's eyes were a vibrant blue.

All of a sudden he saw her stiffen and slowly turn around. He didn't know what had caused her to pause but the smile on her face conveyed how very happy she was to see him.  
Hermione turned to her mother and beckoned her closer before introducing them. "Mum, I would like to introduce you to my favorite ex-professor of Defense and friend who is helping me navigate the crazy magical world that I have found myself to live in ten months out of the year, Mr. Remus Lupin. Remus this is my mother Gwendolyn Jean Granger."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Granger, I have heard so much about you from your daughter this year." Said Remus taking her mother's hand and shaking it as he knew muggles were apt to do. "

"Smiling in return, Hermione's mother knew this man to be a Werewolf and the evidence of the scars on his face gave testament to the horrors that he had survived in his youth. But he still projected a warmth and she could understand how that would appeal to her often lonely daughter. "Mr. Lupin it is wonderful to finally meet you. Please call me Gwen, Hermione has spoken so well of you in her letters home this year as well as mentions over the summer while regaling myself and her father with her new knowledge of the magical world."

 

"She has been called The Brightest Witch of Her Age by many in the wizarding world" replied Remus smiling indulgently at Hermione.

"I've also been called an Insufferable Know it All as well sir" A bit red in the face she looked up at him through her eyelashes and smirked at him.

"Yes well darling you'll have days like that", replied her mother, looking at how her daughter interacted with the gentleman in front of her and thought it sweet. She didn't see him reacting in any other way than that of a friend.  
"Mr. Lupin, would you like to join us in the house for tea? I'm afraid that with Hermione's lessons and the errands that we had to run today before she leaves for the Weasleys' home, we've missed lunch as well as tea."

"I would be happy to join you for tea madam, as long as it wouldn't be any trouble and please call me Remus." Replied Remus

"No trouble at all Remus." Smiled Mrs. Granger "Hermione can you please let Elena know that we are ready for Tea? I called her while you were finishing your lesson, but I am unsure if she heard the car drive up."

"Of course mum, I'll meet you and mum in the parlor in just a few moments Remus." Replied Hermione smiling back at the friend she had gained over the course of the past year.

Leading Remus into the parlor, Gwen invited him to sit on the settee while she made herself comfortable in the chair across from him.

"So Mr. Weasley's parents invited Hermione to their home for the remainder of the summer?" asked Remus while waiting for Hermione to return.

"Yes, they have invited her to join them at the Quidditch World cup and then to spend the remainder of the break at their home. I must say that if I didn't know that Mr. Potter would be visiting there as well at the same time and going to this meet, I might have tried harder to have her remain at home the remainder of the summer."

"If it is a concern over parental supervision, I can assure you that Molly Weasley is a most attentive parent to her brood of seven." Replied Remus confused by her concern.

"Oh no, I've met both Weasley parents and while they both seemed a bit befuddled over some of I guess you would call muggle ideas or professions they seemed sincere in their attention to both Hermione and Mr. Potter or Harry as I hear from Hermione all year, with the exception of this year of course." Said Gwen looking critically at Remus. "I was concerned that their friendship was in jeopardy when I did not hear so much about either boy this year."

Feeling a bit uncomfortable, but now understanding her concern better he leaned forward to speak with her, while occasionally looking through the doorway waiting for Hermione to return, hearing her speaking softly to Elena in French, another surprise although it shouldn't have been, Remus turned back to her mother. "Gwen, I must admit I was a bit disappointed in both of the boys this year. Harry, if you weren't aware was not raised in the magical world and from what I understand and what I have learned from Hermione, he was not treated well by his guardians and I know it is not a sufficient excuse, but I believe that he is afraid to choose between friends or get between them when they are arguing. From what I have observed Mr. Weasley is much more vocal in his displeasure at perceived injustices. Hermione explained to me that there was an issue over their familiars which I believe resolved itself recently."

"And the broomstick issue Remus, I believe that it was an issue for both of them, though Hermione did not go into too much of an explanation regarding that."

"Yes, the broomstick issue, I did have words with Harry in regards to that once I finally got the information about it from another professor." Remembering how Severus had seemed to gloat regarding the supposed breakup of the trio of friends, he was concerned enough about Hermione or Remus's Kia to be the first professor to point out the rift in friendship. "I would like to explain that a Wizards first vehicle in that comparison is a broomstick, so he was very excited about the gift of a new one. It was however received during a time of uncertainty of intent and Hermione was correct that it did need to be thoroughly investigated before test driving it."

 

Reluctantly Gwen smiled at Remus, not happy with the explanation, but a bit more accepting of the reason behind the argument. "Remus I hope that you know that I can appreciate that Harry has had a difficult life and if there is anything that I can do, to get him out of the environment that has made his life difficult, I will do so, but I do need to think of Hermione first and foremost. I spent years seeing how difficult of a time she had at the schools that she has attended in the past. I have a very intelligent child that is far more intelligent than her classmates. She has been ridiculed and bullied for this very knowledge and has been bullied by this Mr. Weasley, but still claims to be best friends with this character, but I hope that if he continues to be a bore, that she will cut her losses and make friends that appreciate her for who she is and not what she can do for them."

Understanding her need to protect Hermione but not feeling it was his place to say that he agreed or interject more on the subject, he leaned back on the settee. Hearing Hermione returning to the parlor along with Elena, still speaking softly in French, he stood up to greet the young witch, along with her companion who appeared to be a very treasured au pair of some sort to the young woman before him. He offered to assist with the tea but was waved off by the older woman and retook his seat upon the settee. Sitting beside him in a most proper manner was Hermione who looked over to her mother silently and when given permission was asked to serve. Watching her silently, she served him first as he was the guest, though her mother was older and was pleased and surprised to see that she remembered how he took his tea. She then served her mother and asked Elena if she would be joining them as well. Elena just smiled and said no, she was going to finish cleaning up the kitchen and would leave their dinner in the fridge to be heated when Mr. Granger returned. Looking to Mrs. Granger and then to Remus she nodded her head and left the room to resume cleaning the kitchen that Hermione had been helping her with.

"Now Hermione, your mother mentioned that you were taking lessons this summer, do you mind letting me know which classes and if I may be of any assistance?"

"Of course Remus," replied Hermione with a smile. " I am currently taking a class in the Russian language, I also take piano lessons and a martial arts class that I participate in twice a week." Once completed with her recitation, Hermione looked down into her teacup before taking a sip.

His eyebrows rising almost comically, he had to set down his own teacup before he dropped it. "I didn't realize that you had a full curriculum even during the summer Hermione. I hope that our correspondence didn't interfere with your studies."

Giggling lightly Hermione shook her head quickly. "Our letters didn't interfere with anything Remus. I like to keep busy during the summer. My parents like me to keep busy during the summer."

Looking to Gwen, he caught the slightly worried look on her face. Clearing her throat she explained. "When Hermione was younger, if she had too much idle time, she became restless and seemed to exhibit more accidental magic as a result. We didn't know what was happening at the time when she would levitate books that had been put out of her reach or when she would come home from daycare and say that one of the children's hair turned frizzy just like hers after she had been insulted of course. We weren't positive it was her until we tried to get her to her daily lesson and we couldn't open any of the doors. She was so adamant that she not have to go to daycare that we couldn't leave the house. At this point, she was four years old and we were at our wit's end."

Looking over at a blushing ball of Hermione, Remus huffed a bit of a chuckle. "So little witchling Hermione put down her foot?"

"And then some," replied her mother smiling indulgently. "We didn't understand what was going on, we just knew that we loved our daughter and we didn't want anything to happen to her or anyone to question her abilities. It would have been so much easier if we had been approached by someone in the magical world to help us understand her better." finished Gwen with a frown on her face.  
Remus looked over at the two women and saw that there was a little bit of contention between the both of them. Her parents may have understood but it might have taken longer than it warranted.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you understand all of this? 

"Well we tried to think of it scientifically, we have known that there are people out there in the world that have certain abilities that cannot be explained. We did as much research as we could to try and narrow down her gifts, but not everything fit into little boxes so we improvised. It wasn't until she was around nine that we knew that she was a witch."

 

"May I ask what happened?," Inquired Remus still considering the blushing young woman beside him.

"I disapparated,” replied Hermione quietly.

Shocked once again Remus studied Hermione carefully before asking "How did you come to find out that Hermione was a witch?"

"We were visited by the Headmaster of Hogwarts… that was after a team was sent out to make sure that Hermione's teacher and classmates did not remember that she disappeared from class."

"Headmaster Dumbledore visited you, Hermione, before you received your Hogwarts letter?" asked Remus incredulously.

Looking up at him and seeing the height of his previously tempered eyebrows, Hermione replied: "I suppose he did, my mother and father told me he did; however I didn't remember meeting him, prior to receiving my Hogwarts letter."

Feeling befuddled by her answer, he had to mention. "But you were nine and I know what an incredible memory you have."

"He made her forget," said Gwen, letting her anger bleed into her voice. "Before speaking to either me or my husband, he said some type of spell and rushed her off to her room. We were quite upset until he advised us that he knew children were notoriously unable to keep secrets and the fate of The Wizarding world depended on secrecy. He then advised us that Hermione was a witch and that she was a very special girl and very powerful for one so young. Of course we made him prove to us that he was who he said he was, not trusting that he hadn't hypnotized Hermione into leaving the room or intimidated her He showed us a bit of magic, explained that all of the children received their invitations to Hogwarts at age eleven and assured us that Hermione would receive her letter. He left behind a small book with information about the school, the subjects offered and helpful hints for curbing accidental magics. We didn't hear from him or anyone else until Hermione's eleventh Birthday."

"Of course I myself have never been involved in instances of accidental magic of muggleborn children, but I was not aware that the Headmaster himself visited," Said Remus sounding vaguely confused.

"I wasn't aware before that he did either, none of my classmates have ever mentioned it, however, if he made them forget like he did me, it really isn't a wonder," Replied Hermione, also allowing a bit of tension to bleed into her voice.

Looking up quickly at Hermione and Gwen, he reached for his now cool teacup and proceeded to change the subject, asking Hermione how she liked her summer lessons. If she felt proficient in her language studies and how her martial arts training was going? She enthusiastically spoke of her lessons, offering a few phrases in Russian and Remus being a pretty proficient linguist responded to her, in turn, surprising both her and her mother, who also knew Russian. As the day grew later and their tea was finished he reluctantly noticed the time and started making noises to leave. Hermione invited him to stay for dinner after putting the Lasagna that Elena had made into the oven, but he had to decline as he already had plans for that evening with his snarky Potions Master and his Marauder friend to discuss the issue of Harry.

Realizing that he hadn't handed the box to Hermione, he did so and smiled at her confused expression as the box was only five inches by five inches in size, but quite heavy even with a lightening charm added to it. She looked up to him, this time her eyebrow arched almost in imitation of Severus until he explained that all she or Harry need to do to enlarge the box was to tap it once with their wand and say Engorgio. He said that he would do it here, but as this was a muggle neighborhood and he was not sure what the monitoring spells were in this area, so he recommended waiting until she reached the Weasley's.  
As they made their way to the back door so that Remus might disapparate, her mother stayed behind to work on completing their dinner preparations. Remus turned to Hermione and asked, "Have you come to any conclusions as to why Harry and I have been unable to communicate this summer?"

 

 

Looking up at him as he was quite a bit taller than her and biting her lower lip just a bit before replying "I actually have a few theories, but I am not positive on the correct one. Before our second year, all of Harry's mail was being intercepted by a house elf, hoping to keep him from returning to the school where potential danger awaited. I don't believe that to be the case this time as he has received mail from me, Ron and Sirius this holiday. There are other ideas I have come up with but there is a bit more research that I would like to do, before speculating completely," she said looking down at her feet, feeling a bit unprepared for the interest in her ideas.

"Is there a particular book that you need, I could send it to you?"

"Actually I was waiting for my visit the Weasley's to complete my research," replied Hermione uncertainly.

"And they have something at their home that would be helpful?" questioned Remus bemusedly having visited the Burrow in the past.

"Well Ron has told me that they have had visitors this summer in response to this big Quidditch match, so I am hoping to speak to the source directly." She replied with a bigger grin, enjoying the bit of mystery she was invoking.

"So someone that the Weasley's know may be helpful?"

"Someone related, that is knowledgeable in charms and hexes and how to identify them, a Mr. William Weasley," said Hermione giving up the game.

"Ah, Bill. Good lad, always pleasant when I spoke to him. I haven't seen him of course since he was a young boy."

"Well, this will be the first time that I will be meeting him and Ron's other brother Charles."

"Why do you believe that Bill will be able to assist with your research," he asked questioningly, unsure of the correlation.

"Ron informed me that his brother Charles is a dragon keeper and that his brother William or Bill as you call him is a curse breaker. I figure that if anyone could verify my theories it would be him," looking a bit uncertain and embarrassed "And you of course or maybe Professor Snape, but as I have several theories and limited time with you and no time with Professor Snape, I figured as long as I didn't make a nuisance of myself that perhaps he would be willing to assist me.." she finished quickly a little flushed realizing that she had been babbling.

"Hermione, don't fret over this, I am sure that we will come up with a solution to this dilemma and hopefully until then, we will come up with another way for Harry and me to communicate. I am just happy that he is as interested in getting to know an old family friend as I am to get to know the young man he has become. Thank you, Hermione, for assistance with this, I am indebted to you," Said Remus with a slight bow.

"There is no debt owed Remus, you are both my friends and I am always happy to help my friends," Hermione replied flushing again at leaving herself so vulnerable.

Realizing he had embarrassed her bit Remus was quick to respond "Of course we are friends Hermione and I do thank you. I had best be going, as I have an old dog to take out and some planning to do," Thinking that he had the next two nights available to him and his boyfriend for lack of a better word. Stopping to rest a hand lightly on her shoulder and feeling his wolf hum at the brief contact; he smiled at her once again before bowing briefly and turning with a muffled crack, disapparating before her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your Comments, Kudos, Bookmarks and Subscribes. They truly make my day, my month, my year. I know that this is a slow burn story. Thank you for coming along on this journey!


	22. The Next Step Closer

Bound To You

Chapter 21

SSRLSSRLSSRLSSRLSSRLSSRLSSRLSSRLSSRLSSRL

The remainder of August flew by much too quickly for the tastes of Remus and Severus. They had limited time to spend together with Severus’s return to school to have his lesson plans reviewed and approved by the old manipulative bastard that ran the school. He then had to sit and listen to the old fool sucking on lemon drops while hoping that he would choke on one of them all of the while going on and on about his plans for the tournament taking place at the school in a few months’ time. 

 

Severus dreaded the thought of returning to the school full time as they still had not come up with a way for the two of them to continue to see each other without tipping off the old bastard that they were in a relationship. He refused to let that man ruin another potential bond for him. He had no idea how involved Albus might have been in keeping the three of them apart in his previous bond. He recalled some conversations that he had, had with James and Lily in regards to whom they could trust with the information of the three of them together and found that there was no one that they could trust completely. There were so few instances that they could meet, especially once they went into hiding that they could even look into their bond. He would not risk this. He knew that they had to research the ramifications of this bond and had no idea where to begin to locate the materials needed. He also knew though that he would keep Remus as close as he could until they found their third and then he would keep the two of them and Harry safe, or die trying.

 

Upon his return from visiting Hermione and delivering Harry’s birthday present into her safekeeping, Remus relayed his discovery of her social status, her knowledge of languages and the words of her mother in regards to her friendship with the two boys. Severus while intrigued to know that the Kia knew so much and how she curbed her occasional bursts of accidental magic as a child wanted Remus to get on with the real reason he had been sent to visit Ms. Granger.

 

“What of her ideas regarding him not receiving your owls this summer. I am sure that she has at least a dozen of them,” Asked Severus.

 

Looking askance at Severus with a bit of a grim grin on his face, he replied “She said that she had several theories of course but was reluctant to share them as she hadn’t been able to fully research them,”

 

“Of course she needs to research her theories, Merlin forbid Hermione Granger offer a few theories without fully researching them, “sneered Severus pacing in front of Remus, while trying to collect his thoughts. He looked around the cramped living room of his home, focusing on the dust that seemed to hang from the sconces on the walls and the bookcases that wrapped halfway around the room. With a swish of his hand and look of intent, he vanished the years of neglect that seemed to permeate the very air that they breathed.

Leaning against the doorway, Remus’s eyes kept following the pacing of his boyfriend which didn’t sound right, his partner, his other half sounded sappy but as the years of dust were vanished, he found his eyes lighting upon the books that surrounded them and said, “I bet if my Kia could get ahold of your library or even my meager one she would probably already have the answer. As it is, I am kind of following her line of thought with her hope to speak with the oldest Weasley boy.”

 

Eyebrow raised Severus asked “William? What questions would he be able to answer? Last I had heard he was working for Gringotts in Egypt.”

 

“He is coming in for the World Cup this week but is also working as a curse breaker; I think that she believes that Harry may have some sort of hex on him or something that would hinder him from receiving my mail.”

 

“Well, of course, there is something hindering Harry from receiving your mail, we’ve established that,” complained Severus looking annoyed at Remus.

 

“Hermione is a greatly intelligent young lady, but there is only so much that she can pick up from books and as we are trying to disabuse her that everything in books is absolute then, of course, she is going to have questions and of course she is going to find the most logical explanation before submitting her theories. Really, Severus, can you blame her?”

 

Looking at his friend, boyfriend, one day lover he let the corner of his mouth rise in a slight grin. He knew that Remus was right and that they had been or at least Remus had been encouraging the girl to look beyond her books as much as possible since the beginning of the year. If she had several theories and was as bright as they knew she was, she would discover the reason behind Harry not receiving his post and he was sure that she would take care of it. Sliding over to said friend, boyfriend, he had no idea what to bloody call him, he backed him into the wall behind him.

 

“Why don’t we let your Kia, take care of things on her end and we should take care of somethings on this end.” Looking up into Remus’s eyes and noticing the slight golden ring around them he leaned forward and kissed him. At first just a soft kiss, enjoying the slightly rough texture against his own lips, feeling the slight catch of breath at the surprise of Severus instigating the kiss between them and then Remus’s long arms coming up around him and pulling him closer. He had forgotten how good this felt, the time that he had had with Jamie and Lily was the best of his life and while he resented that he had been made to forget that time, he was so thankful for it and thanked the gods daily for a second chance to make this kind of connection again. 

 

While they had not gone much further than a couple of heated snogs and admittedly some cuddling on the couch at The Den, he was thinking that they may be ready to take this thing between them a bit further soon. Knowing that the wolf was closer to the surface at this time of the month and deciding to test the waters a bit he took the kiss from Remus’s lips and dragged his lips across the scruffiness of his cheek which he certainly enjoyed the look of, down to his jaw and up to his ear where he bit down on lightly and soothed with his tongue at the low growl that curled in the back of Remus’s throat. Drawing his tongue down the side of his neck he started parting the buttons of Remus’s shirt and when he reached the werewolf’s collarbone he kissed it gently before mouthing it with his teeth knowing that it would drive him a bit wild. Hearing him panting a bit and loving the sound of it Severus slid his hands into the shirt and slid it from his shoulders before running his fingers across his chest and lowering his mouth to the nipple that was hidden in the wiry hair and nipped it before pulling it into his mouth and sucking it while flicking it with his tongue bringing about a deeper growl from his lover. Drifting towards Remus’s other nipple he deftly started undoing the fastening on his pants when he suddenly stopped and looked up at the man that made him want to show him how happy he was and how attracted he was to him. It was so out of character for him. The fights that they had been involved with when they were younger and the fear that had gripped him this past year watching the mild-mannered man turn into a ferocious beast never left completely. He knew that he wanted to be here in this moment with him.

 

Remus, found himself looking down at Severus on his knees before him with lust in his fathomless black eyes, asking him silently if he was ok in taking this step with him. Tilting his head slightly and feeling a growl in the back of his throat he couldn’t stop himself from watching as Severus finished opening his trousers and staring himself as he realized that Remus had forgone any type of underwear this morning. He could feel himself harden further as Severus stared intently at his cock as it lay against his stomach. 

 

 

Tentatively Severus reached out to touch the weeping tip of it, bringing his shiny finger to the tip of his tongue to sample the taste of what the wolf was offering him. He moved forward and brought his lips to the tip of his lover's cock and slowly brought his mouth down over it while caressing its length softly with his work-calloused hands earning another growl from Remus and the feel of his long fingers sliding through his hair and slightly holding him in place. At the strong feeling of his lover’s grip now on his head, he continued to let himself enjoy the moment in bringing Remus pleasure. Focusing on bringing his lover off, he didn’t notice at first that Remus had wandlessly and wordlessly cushioned the floor beneath his knees. Startled by the power that Remus had exhibited while clearly involved in what Severus was doing he renewed his effort to make him cum. 

 

Remus loved the attention that Severus was lavishing upon him. It had been a fair amount of years since he had enjoyed this particular activity with either a man or a woman and he knew that he wouldn’t be able to last long. Watching Severus enjoying himself while pleasuring him almost cost him every bit of control that he had. When Severus pulled his own cock from his trousers and pull it in tandem with the pulls of his own he knew that he couldn’t hold back, tugging on his lover’s hair a bit in warning, he felt his eyes roll back into his head and heard himself calling out Severus’s name as he came in a rush, Severus never letting up on him until he had finished completely. Feeling a blush rise from his chest up to his neck and across his face as he realized how quickly he had erupted, he let himself meet Severus’s eyes with a shy grin of his own. “It has been a long time for me I am afraid.”  
“I am glad of it”, said Severus with a grin of his own as he slid himself up Remus’ body and grabbed his face lightly before placing a swift kiss upon his still grinning lips. ” Let’s make dinner wolf-man; we have plans to make on how we are going to survive this year and keep me from killing the headmaster.”


End file.
